A Dutch oil tanker rescues two men and a dog adrift at sea for more than a week. Lifelong sailor Kevin Hyde, 65, his friend Joe DiTomasso, 76, and Joe’s dog Minnie set off from Cape May, New Jersey, on November 27th headed to Florida aboard Kevin’s 30-foot sailboat, the Atrevida II. But after leaving North Carolina’s Outer Banks on December 3rd, they got caught in a massive storm that wrecked their boat, leaving them without a mast, drifting out to sea with no way to call for help.
After 10 days adrift somewhere in the Atlantic, the trio had run out of food and fresh water. But then, miraculously, a crew member on a Dutch tanker carrying fuel from Amsterdam to New York just happened to spot the Atrevida II around 200 miles off the coast of Delaware. Crew from the tanker used a cargo net to lift the weary sailors from their vessel and then they were finally saved.
The tanker’s captain, Neeraj Chaudhary, says it was divine intervention that led to the rescue. "We didn’t receive any distress signal,” the captain says. “My second officer just noticed something." Both men and Minnie were checked out once they were back to shore and everyone was physically okay. Now they’re all looking forward to being back with their families and enjoying the holidays.