Cruise ship pianist rescued after 9 hours at sea

LOS ANGELES: A pianist working on a cruise ship was rescued by two fishermen after drifting for nine hours in the Pacific Ocean about 30km off the coast of California, US media reported.

The circumstances under which the 37-year-old man fell overboard from the Ovation of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship bound for Mexico, are unknown, CBS News reported.

The man, whose identity was not released, was hospitalised and was not in a life-threatening condition, according to the US Coast Guard.

In the incident, which occurred on Friday, two fishermen — Grant Garrett and Sean Norton — were returning from marlin fishing near Santa Catalina Island, part of Los Angeles County, when they spotted the man in the open sea.

Garrett recounted the rescue to CBS, saying he called out: "That's a human being. Let's stop the boat."

"Grant and I each got an arm and lifted him up, and he was in total shock," Norton said. "The only thing he said to me was, 'Thank you. I thought I was going to die'."

The fishermen issued an emergency maritime call, and a group of Newport Beach lifeguards responded. They believe the man fell overboard at around 2.30am on Friday.

Norton suggested the pianist may have survived for so long because of the exceptionally mild ocean temperature due to the El Nino effect.