three Thai fishermen are rescued from middle of sea

Three fishermen are rescued after they floated into the middle of the Andaman Sea on an ICEBOX when their boat capsized off of Thailand

Three Thai fishermen were miraculously rescued after they were found floating on an icebox in the middle of the sea off the coast of Thailand.

The trio had been drifting in the water for more than six hours after their boat capsized when tourists from a passing boat noticed the blue container several miles north of the Similan Islands in Phang Nga province on March 24.

When the boat moved closer to the object, passengers noticed the fisherman and his two young crew members clinging to the box in the choppy water of the Andaman Sea.

Onlooker Yuranun Tongprem said: 'I was fishing with my friends as a hobby. We approached the icebox that was floating in the water and saw them.

'They had been floating in the sea for six hours. It's amazing how they stayed strong through the night. My friends and I tried asking them questions but they were only able to share little details about what had happened.'

The crew quickly threw a rope before pulling the three up from the sea.

The Thai fisherman, believed to be in his 60s, told the crew that he and the two boys had to find a floatable object when their boat sank at 3am earlier that day.

The three appeared to be exhausted and suffering from mild dehydration but had no injuries.

After resting on board for an hour, Yuranun took the rescued locals to a nearby fishing boat so they could be ferried back to shore and treated at hospital.

Whilst incredibly rare to find fishermen floating on an icebox - it has happened before.

In 2009, two Myanmar fishermen survived for almost a month in shark-infested waters by floating in a large ice box after their boat sank.

The men, both aged in their 20s, were on a Thai fishing boat with 18 others when it sank in heavy seas off Australia’s north coast.

The pair were spotted by an Australian coastal patrol aircraft and were winched onto a rescue helicopter and taken to hospital Thursday Island, off Australia’s far north.

Hospital officials said the pair were hungry and dehydrated after drifting 25 days at sea during the monsoon season and recent cyclonic storms in the region, but they recovered well and were released.