Cruise ship pianist rescued after 9 hours at sea

A pianist working on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship was rescued after drifting for nine hours in the Pacific Ocean about 30 kilometres off the California coast, US media reported.

The 37-year-old man, whose identity was not released, was hospitalised and was not in a life-threatening condition, according to the US Coast Guard.

CBS News reported that the circumstances in which he went overboard from the Ovation of the Seas, which was bound for Mexico, were unknown.

The incident happened on Friday. Fishermen Grant Garrett and Sean Norton were returning from marlin fishing near Santa Catalina Island, in Los Angeles County, when they spotted the man in open water.

Norton told CBS that he and Garrett lifted the man into the boat and that the man said: "Thank you. I thought I was going to die."

The fishermen made an emergency maritime call, and Newport Beach lifeguards responded. The lifeguards believe the man fell overboard around 2:30 am Friday, CBS reported.