Selby Corgat, last survivor of ‘Marie-Jeanne’ boat lost at sea, passes away at 83 |13 July 2022

Selby Corgat (second left), wife Geralda (right), son and grand-kids (Photo credit: Geralda Corgat née Robert)

Selby Corgat, the last survivor of Seychelles’ renowned boat ‘Marie-Jeanne’ which was lost at sea for more than 70 days in 1953, passed away in Sydney, Australia on June 28, 2022, according to his widow Geralda Corgat née Robert.

Corgat and another passenger, Antoine Vidot, were the only two survivors of the 73-day ordeal, which claimed the lives of eight other passengers, including his father who died after being adrift for 45 days.

Born on December 30, 1938, Corgat was 14 at the time of the incident and his former colleague, Antoine Vidot who passed away December 31, 2013, was 18 at the time.

His father’s 34-foot motor launch, an open boat named ‘Marie-Jeanne’, vanished in the channel between Praslin and Mahé on February 1, 1953, and drifted at sea for 73 days before being rescued by an Italian tanker, Montallegro.

In an interview to Reuters Rome soon after their rescue, Corgat explained they were kept alive by eating birds that fell into their boat, as well as eating raw fish and sucking their innards to quench their thirst.

Corgat moved to England in the 1970s, where he married and fathered three sons ‒ David, Marlon and Danny. He moved to Sydney, Australia in the 1980s where he lived until his death at the age of 83.

The tragic story of ‘Marie-Jeanne’ and the dramatic rescue of two of its passengers is relayed in a book and a play based on the account of Antoine Vidot who has since passed and who was 18 at the time of the incident.

Patsy Canaya