A sailor who fell overboard into the Pacific Ocean from a cargo ship survived by latching onto what he thought was rubbish for 14 hours before being rescued.

BBC reports 52-year-old engineer Vidam Perevertilov was working on the ship Silver Supporter where he felt “hot and dizzy” on deck before apparently fainting and falling overboard.

Perevertilov struggled to stay afloat before noticing what turned out to be an unanchored buoy and swam towards it, using what he described as a piece of “sea rubbish” to survive before his ship crew turned back six hours later to rescue him.