Tanker Crew Rescues Missing Swimmer Who Drifted for 36 Hours

In an astonishing tale of survival, a young beachgoer who was swept off by a current survived for 36 hours until she was rescued by a tanker crew, more than 40 nautical miles away from where she entered the water. 

On Monday evening, a 21-year-old Chinese woman was out with a friend at Shirahama beach, a popular summer getaway about 70 nm to the southwest of Tokyo. While swimming near the beachfront, she disappeared. Her friend called the police to report her missing, and the Japan Coast Guard was notified. 

At about 0750 hours on Wednesday morning, the crew of a merchant ship spotted her off Nojimazaki on the southern end of the Boso Peninsula - on the other side of Oshima Island. She had stayed afloat in an inflatable swim ring for a day and two nights, surviving the hazards of hypothermia, exhaustion and risk of collision as she drifted across the busy approaches to Tokyo Bay. She had crossed a straight-line distance of 40 nautical miles from the beach, but "it is assumed she drifted for an even greater distance," a Japan Coast Guard official told AFP. 

The ship that made the lucky sighting requested the crew of a smaller LPG tanker to come to the woman's aid. The Kakuwa Maru No. 8 responded, and two crewmembers jumped over the side to help bring the survivor to safety. She appeared to be in good health, aside from dehydration, and the Japan Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter aircrew to take her to shore for medical evaluation. The aircrew winched her aboard from the tanker's stern and delivered her safely to a nearby hospital. She was discharged the same day. 

The Japan Coast Guard has issued a renewed warning to beachgoers about the dangers of rip currents, which can reach speeds of up to four knots at some locations when the conditions are right. This is faster than humans are capable of resisting, and the only way to escape is to swim horizontally out of the current.