Boy, 15, clings to capsized boat for over two days before dramatic rescue in Alaska waters

A 15-year-old boy whose boat capsized off the coast of Alaska survived more than two days adrift at sea by clinging to the overturned hull before being dramatically rescued.

The US Coast Guard said crew members aboard a fishing vessel rescued Derrick Parker Agnaanga, 15, on Monday after finding him clinging to a capsized small boat in a remote stretch of the Bering Sea off Alaska, according to The New York Times on Friday (local time).

Derrick had gone out to sea on Sunday to fish for halibut with his older brother and a cousin. The boat capsized the following night, and Derrick was the only one of the group to survive.

He spent more than two days adrift on the overturned hull and went without food or water the entire time.

When the group failed to return as planned, family members reported them missing to Alaska state police, and the Coast Guard launched a large-scale search, deploying aircraft.

As a result, the Coast Guard spotted Derrick sitting atop the capsized boat at around 10:30 a.m. Monday and immediately called on a nearby vessel to assist in the rescue.

Derrick had drifted far from any regular fishing routes, however, and even the closest vessel — the Northwest Explorer — needed four hours to reach him.

Captain Adam White sounded the ship's horn roughly every 1.6 kilometers so Derrick would know help was on the way. "It was the longest four hours of my life," White told The New York Times, describing the tense ordeal.

The Explorer found Derrick about 6.4 kilometers from St. Lawrence Island, itself roughly 264 kilometers from the Alaskan mainland.

When found, Derrick was kneeling on the overturned hull. The Coast Guard had earlier dropped an inflatable life raft beside the boat, but Derrick did not have enough strength left to swim to it.

Crew members threw him a rope, pulled him aboard and wrapped him in warm towels. The temperature in the area was about 7 degrees Celsius at the time, and Derrick was suffering from moderate hypothermia.

Derrick's mother, Bina Kulowiyi, later described her son on Facebook as "a survivor," saying he had endured through prayer.