Last week, Dagbladet wrote about four childhood friends from Nøtterøy who are currently crossing the vast Pacific Ocean by sailboat.

The four also contributed to the search for American TV profile Aaron Carotta, who went missing in the street.

Last week, the boy from Nøtterøy received a number of messages from strangers on Messenger.

– They need help to find the missing rower, Aaron Carotta, Jonas Selim (25) told Dagbladet.

– His team last heard from him on May 20, and he has since stopped responding. A few days later, on May 26, he sent an emergency message through a connection that sent a location. We are probably the ships closest to his position, he added.

Aaron Carotta, also known in the US as “Adventure Aaron”, is an American TV personality, travel blogger, and former journalist.

Carotta aims to row around the world in his S boatmile.

Must be found

On Saturday, nine days after Dagbladet mentioned the case for the first time, the gang said Carotta had been found.

– Hello! For your information, we have received news that Aaron has been found safe and sound in a lifeboat. Of course there’s a lot of different and a bit hard to come by information in those group chats, but at least that’s what we know for now. I think they have sent a plane to find him, if we understand correctly, Jonas Selim wrote to Dagbladet on Saturday morning Norwegian time.

There has been no official confirmation that Carotta has been found. However, several people on social media who followed the search reported that he had been found.

Thus, the search operation involving gangs of friends will most likely end.

Explorers have contributed to the search for TV profiles in a number of ways.

Last week, Captain Marius Bakken (25) said they were using drones to sweep the area and search for the celebrity, among other things.

– There is always someone on duty on this ship, and we are taking part in what is called a bolo (alert) search, said Bakken (25) last week.

– We did what we could, but I think it’s easier to look for a needle in a haystack than a rowboat in the Pacific Ocean, added Selim.

So the needle was found in a haystack.

– Mercilessly

When Dagbladet spoke to a group of friends last week, they had been in Baugen for nineteen months. The journey begins in Tønsberg.

Then Europe, across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and then to the Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal.

When Dagbladet spoke to the explorers, they were embarking on their largest ocean crossing yet, 3,000 nautical miles from the Galapagos to the Marquesas Islands.

The gang, who have traveled a long way to study the ocean’s oddities on the trip, describe the sea as merciless.

– When we sailed from Gran Canaria to Cape Verde, there were such big waves that about 400-500 liters of water got into the boat. Then especially spoiled food. We also experienced strong winds and a small storm, with winds of over 40 knots, said Selim.

– We know that the sea is merciless. That’s why we make massive preparations on board, so that it is optimal before we go on a further journey. We went through security and checked if everything was as it should be, he added.