Woman swept away from beach on inflatable is spotted by cargo ship after 37 hours at sea

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A woman who was swept out to sea while swimming at a Japanese beach was rescued 37 hours later after drifting in a inflatable swimming ring more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) in the Pacific Ocean.

Officials said on Thursday that the woman from China was finally rescued after being spotted by a passing cargo ship by chance. They added she was lucky to have not been hit by a ship in the dark.

Japan's coast guard launched a search for the woman, identified only as a Chinese national in her 20s, after receiving a call Monday night from her friend saying she had disappeared while swimming at Shimoda, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

Rescuers say strong winds were blowing at the time she went missing.

According to reports, after she was rescued the woman said to officials that she noticed she was drifting about 30 minutes after she began swimming. She tried to return to the beach but was unable to reach it.

She was spotted by a cargo ship early on Wednesday, about 36 hours after she disappeared, off the southern tip of Boso Peninsula, the coast guard said.

The cargo ship asked a passing LPG tanker, the Kakuwa Maru No. 8, to help. Two of its crew members jumped into the sea and rescued the woman, officials said. She was airlifted by a coast guard helicopter to land, they said.

Footage from the coastguard shows a woman in a black swimsuit being winched from the water. One of the rescue team told local media: “We were all shouting, ‘Don’t give up!’ and ‘Hang in there!’”

The woman was slightly dehydrated but was in good health and walked away after being examined at a nearby hospital, the officials said. Her condition was described as none life-threatening by doctors and she was put on an intravenous drip.

The coast guard said she had drifted more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) and was lucky to have survived despite the dangers of heat stroke under the sun, hypothermia at night or being hit by a ship in the dark.