Woman swept out to sea in rubber ring found alive after 36 hours

She was spotted 50 miles from shore.

The woman, who is reported to be a Chinese national, disappeared from a beach in the central Shizuoka region of Japan on Monday evening.

A friend raised the alarm, and an official search was launched by the Japan Coast Guard.

"It was around 7.55pm on Monday when we received the information after the woman's friend reported to a nearby convenience store that she was missing," a local Japan Coast Guard official told AFP.

The woman was spotted by a cargo ship early Wednesday, about 36 hours after she disappeared off the southern tip of Boso Peninsula, the coast guard official added.

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, before she was airlifted by a coast guard helicopter to land.

In a video released by the Japan Coast Guard, the woman — dry and wrapped in a pale blue blanket — can be seen stood on the deck of the tanker with a crew member who stands by her in case she loses her balance, while others quietly look on.

A coast guard helicopter hovers above while the woman is attached to a rope and safely taken into the chopper.

As she is whisked to safety, she can be seen waving at the tanker crew.

The woman was taken to hospital after the rescue but did not need to be admitted as she was clear-headed and her dehydration was not life-threatening.

The official from the Japan Coast Guard said that she was lucky to have survived despite the danger of heat stroke, hypothermia at night or being hit by a ship in the dark.

A senior member of the Society of Water Rescue and Survival Research, described the woman's survival as ‘a miracle’ in an interview with a Japanese TV station.

In 2022, a cruise guest who fell overboard was stranded at sea for almost two days before being rescued.

James Michael Grimes ended up in the sea, treading water for 20 hours.

His only company, jellyfish and sharks.

And his only food – wood.

Grimes, 28, was on a Carnival cruise ship with his family when he left his companions to use the bathroom around 11pm.

“The next thing I know, I regained consciousness. I was in the water with no boat in sight,” Grimes told Good Morning America (GMA) of his experience, that saw him have to battle rip currents, and the great threat of the unknown below.

But he survived to tell the tale.

He told Good Morning America that he kept his eyes on the stars and the moon above, deciding early on that he wanted to survive no matter what.

EXCLUSIVE: James Michael Grimes said he treaded water for nearly 20 hours after falling overboard overboard on a Carnival cruise ship on Thanksgiving Eve -- battling jelly fish, rip currents and shark-infested waters before being airlifted by the U.S. Coast Guard.

@evapilgrim pic.twitter.com/DE4n6vdLhA

— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 2, 2022

“I felt like I was given a chance right then… you’re alive for a reason… that [fall] could’ve killed me, but I felt like from that moment on, I was trying to stay positive,” he continued.

“And, you know when you’re here, you’re still alive for a reason. So, all you got to do now is swim and survive. I was hoping they will start looking for me, they will find me eventually,” Grimes said.