An exhausted 72-year-old Anchorage man was arrested upon his arrival near the Russian community of Lavrentiya recently after floating across the Bering Sea to make landfall there.

Russian media reported that 72-year-old John Martin of Anchorage was discovered on Russia’s eastern coast in the Chukotka region on Wednesday by border guards. When contacted by authorities in Russia, Martin did not ask for asylum and his motives for making his way to Russia are said to be unclear.

According to the report from a foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, Martin floated down the Yukon River last month in his one-seat craft and when he made it to open water, Zakharova said,  “due to inclement weather and because he lacked navigation equipment, he spent several days in the open sea. This is how he ended up in the Russian Federation.”

Others in the Russian investigation on Martin say that he was fishing in the Bering Sea in his little craft and decided to row to China but ended up in Russia. That explanation sounds less plausible than being blown off course and getting lost in bad weather, however.

A U.S. Consulate spokesman in Vladivostok says, “We know about this situation. We are working with local authorities and are providing the U.S. citizen with consular services.”

It has not been determined as yet when Martin will return to Alaska.

  Alaska, Anchorage, bering sea, drifting, john martin, landfall, Lost, russsia, siberia, weather, yukon river