Two men survive for 41 days in the Pacific Ocean by eating coconuts

Drifting 600 miles away from Papua New Guinea after their boat engine failed, two men shared their miraculous story of survival by eating only coconuts and drinking rainwater. Their boat had set off on 28 September carrying five people, including a pregnant woman, however only the two men reportedly survived.

Rickson Masol, 32, and Chris Pagan, 49, were left stranded in the ocean, but they lived off coconuts that had drifted close to their boat. The two men were found in good health nearly six weeks since their vessel lost all communication.

"We are so happy to be home," said Masol. "Being lost at sea was terrifying but we have been treated so kindly by everyone since then." The men were found in Papua New Guinea's neighbouring nation of the Federated States of Micronesia.

The pair arrived back in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea, on 3 February after receiving assistance from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). IOM had helped the men by providing them with basic necessities, like shelter and clothing after they were found. Their repatriation took nearly as long as their sea journey, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Earlier in 2015, real life castaway fisherman, Jose Alvarenga, 36, who went missing in the Pacific Ocean for 14 months recalled how he spoke to the dead body of his friend. Alvarenga and his friend, Ezequiel Cordoba, 22, who had gone fishing in a small boat with no shelter were believed to have died, however 438 days after going missing, Alvarenga washed up on the Marshall Islands.

"I was so hungry that I was eating my own fingernails, swallowing all the little pieces... Why had he died and not me? I had invited him to fish. I blamed myself for his death," said Alvarenga referring to Cordoba's death, who passed away four months into their ordeal. Cordoba reportedly fell ill after consuming a raw seabird caught in the middle of the Pacific.