Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiva were lost at sea for five whole months. The women, who were rescued by the Navy in October, now claim they were never lost at all.
In a shocking twist, the two women have come forward claiming a crew aboard the Taiwanese fishing vessel credited with finding them actually meant to cause the women harm.
Talking to NBC News, Appel said: ‘We were never ‘lost at sea.’ We knew where we were the entire time.’
‘While the media portrayed a rescue with the Taiwanese fishing vessel, they were actually the reason why we called for help,’ she continued.
Appel further added: ‘The Taiwanese fishing vessel was not planning to rescue us. They tried to kill us during the night.’
The two women set off form their Hawaii homes on a 4,400-kilometre journey on May 3rd, but ran into trouble when an alleged storm rendered their boat nearly useless.
Alongside the technical problems, they said they endured two separate tiger shark encounters — a claim that has prompted many to ask why the women didn’t use their emergency distress beacon to call for help.
Appel said that during the encounter with the Taiwanese crew, she was afraid to use the distress signal and, instead used a satellite phone on the fishing vessel to contact the U.S. Coast Guard.
‘I was able to get on the surfboard and get on their boat, make an actual phone call,’ Appel told NBC. ‘Because no one spoke English, it was easier and safer for me to relay the information to the U.S. Coast Guard that we were in danger without them realizing what we were saying.’
The new claim is the latest twist in the women’s account.
Many have cast doubt on Appel and Fuiava’s harrowing story, including their claim that they hit a ‘Force 11’ storm just days after setting off in their sailing boat, Sea Nymph.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had no record of any Force 11 storm happening around Hawaii at the beginning of May.
Plus, some have even questioned the women’s claims of Tiger sharks circling their boats on two occasions. In different descriptions, Appel described the sharks as being at least 50-feet long. Although she earlier told PEOPLE they were 20- to 30-feet in length, tiger sharks only grow about 16-feet long on average.
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