15-Year-Old Boy Survives Days Adrift on Overturned Boat

Coast Guard and Fishing Vessel Execute Rescue Near St. Lawrence Island

Coast Guard. The rescue operation began Sunday after neighbors in Savoonga alerted state authorities when the vessel failed to return by 3 a.m. as scheduled.

Heavy fog and darkness initially grounded Coast Guard maritime assets on Sunday. By Monday morning, an HC-130 Hercules aircraft spotted the teenager wearing a bright yellow jacket sitting on the inverted hull. The Coast Guard vectored in the commercial fishing vessel F/V Northwest Explorer, which was participating in a scientific survey for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to pull the survivor aboard.

Tragedy Strike During Traditional Halibut Fishing Trip

The ill-fated voyage began Friday morning when Derek Parker Aghnaanga, his 35-year-old brother Sidney Kulowiyi, and an unnamed cousin set out from Savoonga to fish for halibut, according to a Facebook post by their mother, Vina Kulowiyi. The trio failed to meet their Sunday morning return window after the boat flipped during Saturday night conditions.

Temperatures in the area hovered around 7 degrees Celsius (or near 10 degrees Celsius according to regional outlet reports) alongside wind gusts reaching 24 kilometers per hour. When the Northwest Explorer reached the teenager after a four-hour steam guided by Coast Guard flares, crew members deployed a rescue line because the boy was too weak to swim to deployed life rafts, captain Adam White told local station KTUU-TV.

Medical Evaluation and Community Impact in Savoonga

Aboard the fishing boat, seven NOAA-sponsored scientists and crew members wrapped the teenager in warm towels and monitored his temperature as he exhibited moderate hypothermia. Captain Adam White recounted that the 15-year-old reported his older brother remained trapped beneath the hull while his cousin drifted away prior to rescue operations.

According to statements published online by Vina Kulowiyi, the survivor went without food or water during his time on the drift, sustained by prayer and enduring grit. The Northwest Explorer docked Tuesday morning in Nome, Alaska, where family members met the teenager. Bob Little issued formal condolences to the community of Savoonga, an 800-person Siberian Yupik village heavily tied to traditional subsistence harvesting.