Sailor Missing For 66 Days Found At Sea

For more than two months, Louis Jordan was missing at sea. The 37-year-old's family issued a missing report on Jan. 29, six days after he set sail on his 35-foot boat "Angel" from Bucksport Marina in South Carolina, according to the Coast Guard. But on Thursday, Louis Jordan, a sailor missing for 66 days, was found adrift 200 miles from the U.S. coast by a German ship. He was relatively healthy and later happy to be reunited with his family.

Audio from an emotional phone call between Jordan and his father Frank Jordan was released by the Coast Guard. Jordan's family had filed a missing report after his was not heard from after several days. His father, Frank Jordan, told him that his family thought he was dead.

Oh man, it's nice to hear your voice. People've been praying for you.

According to the Coast Guard, Jordan set sail from South Carolina on Jan. 23 and headed north. After going offshore to go fishing, Jordan saw his mast break, and his communication gear became damaged during a storm. Set adrift with no way to phone his location, Jordan rationed food he had previously packed for his trip, drank rain water, and caught fish using a net, the Coast Guard said.

The Miami Coast Guard had also searched for Jordan for 10 days in February, after his family reported that he was still missing as of Feb. 7. Jordan did not disclose his plans for his trip, making search efforts more difficult, the Miami Coast Guard said.

A German-flagged container ship spotted Jordan's boat on Thursday at around 1:30 p.m. local time, roughly 200 miles from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The German ship brought Jordan ashore. A helicopter crew then transported the sailor to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, at around 7:30 p.m. ET. Though Jordan stood and walked in without help, the Coast Guard said he would be treated for a shoulder injury.

At a news conference outside the hospital, Coast Guard Lt. Krysten Pecora said:

I just attribute that to his strength and willingness to live and keep on going. It's pretty remarkable."