Sailor Adrift In Caribbean For 24 Days Survived On Ketchup And Seasonings

The Colombian Navy has rescued a sailor from the Caribbean sea after he spent 24 days adrift, surviving on only eating ketchup, garlic powder, and seasoning cubes.

The Dominican national, identified as 47-year-old Elvis Francois, told the authorities he was stranded at the sea with no sight of land before his rescue.

"I have no food. It's just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat. Garlic powder, and Maggi," he told authorities, according to NBC News. "So, I mixed it up with some water."

The man had scrawled "Help" on the hull of his sailboat, which was spotted by a helicopter flying overhead, and he was eventually rescued by a passing container ship.

The sailboat was spotted 120 nautical miles from the northwest of the department of La Guajira, which is on the northeastern tip of the country, NBC News reported, citing a Dominican Navy statement Wednesday. He was then taken to the port city of Cartagena.

The exact date of his rescue was not clear.

Francois told Colombian authorities his ordeal began in December when river currents swept his boat miles into the sea as he was making repairs off the island of St. Martin in the Netherlands Antilles, where he lives.

"I called my friends, they tried to contact me, but I lost the signal. There was nothing else to do but sit and wait," Francois recalled in a video obtained by NBC News.

Commander Carlos Urbano Montes said Francois, who had collected rainwater with a cloth, was found in good health but had lost some weight, according to the New York Post.

Francois said he dealt with a number of other issues while adrift in the sea, including having to constantly remove water to keep the boat from sinking, and unsuccessfully trying to light a fire to send out a distress signal.

"At some point I lost hope and thought about my family, but I thank the coast guard. If it weren't for them I wouldn't be telling the story," Francois said in the video.

Francois underwent medical checks at the shore, and was then handed over to the Dominical Immigration Authorities for his return home.