14 DAY TRIAL // This past Thursday, a boat carrying a shabby-looking man bumped into a reef at the Ebon Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, and drew the attention of two locals.
Apparently, both the boat and its passenger had spent about 16 months floating around before being discovered and rescued.
Information shared with the public says that, at the time when he was found, the man in the boat had a fairly long beard. His hair was not exactly short either.
What's more, he was wearing nothing except a pair of underpants that looked like they had been around for a tad too much time, Express reports.
“The boat is really scratched up and looks like it has been in the water for a long time. He has a long beard and hair,” Ola Fjeldstad, an anthropology student doing research on Ebon told the press.
“His condition isn’t good, but he’s getting better,” the Norwegian student added.
According to the same source, the man only speaks Spanish, which is why his rescuers have not yet been able to make head and tail of who he is and how it was that he wound up in the powerless boat.
However, they say that the man claims that his name is Jose Ivan, and that he left Mexico for El Salvador back in September 2012.
The man says that he did not set out on this journey alone, but accompanied by one of his friends, who died while at sea several months ago.
Jose Ivan maintains that, in order to survive, he had to catch sea turtles, kill them and drink their blood. This is because the only water he could obtain was the one that made it into his boat when it rained.
Officials working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Marujo, the capital of the Marshall Islands, are now trying to get more details concerning the man's home and family.
Meanwhile, Jose Ivan is staying at a local council house, and is gradually regaining strength.