Chinese woman swept to sea while swimming at Japanese beach rescued after 37 hours

A Chinese woman who was swept out to sea while swimming at a Japanese beach was rescued 37 hours later after drifting in an inflatable swim ring more than 80km (50 miles) in the Pacific Ocean, officials said on Thursday.

Japan’s coastguard 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 200km (125 miles) southwest of Tokyo.

She was probably swept out to sea by a current and an evening seaward wind from the mountains and her swim ring made it more difficult to move against the wind, experts said.

The woman was spotted by a cargo ship early Wednesday, about 36 hours after she disappeared off the southern tip of Boso Peninsula, the coastguard 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 coastguard helicopter to land, they said.

In a video released by the Japanese coastguard, the woman – dry and wrapped in a pale blue blanket – stood on the deck of the tanker with a crew member who stood by her in case she lost her balance, while others quietly looked on.

A coastguard helicopter hovered above. When she was attached to a rope and safely taken into the, she waved at the tanker crew.

Crew members of the tanker who helped in the rescue told TV Asahi that they shouted to the woman not to give up as she bobbed up and down in waves that were about 2 metres (6.5 feet) high. Two of them jumped into the water and tied a rope around the woman, while other crew pulled her up to the tanker, they said.

One crew member said everyone was relieved the woman survived,