Miami: A US man missing at sea for more than two months was celebrating a miraculous rescue today after being picked up by a passing ship and airlifted to land, the US Coast Guard said.

Louis Jordan, 37, who was reported missing on January 29, told family members he survived by catching fish with his hands and drinking rain water, according to the Coast Guard. He was spotted drifting on his stricken sailboat - a 35 ft vessel called Angel - approximately 322 kilometers off the coast of North Carolina by the German-registered Houston Express tanker and taken aboard.