A sailor is rescued at night off Cyprus 5 hours after falling off a vehicle carrier

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A sailor is thanking his lucky stars for being rescued unharmed from the dark waters of the east Mediterranean early Sunday, nearly five hours after falling 18 meters (60 feet) off a commercial ship.

Cypriot authorities say 24-year-old Lebanese national needed no medical attention after the Panamanian-flagged vehicles carrier NIVIN plucked him from the sea.

Cmdr. Andreas Charalambides, head of the Cyprus Search and Rescue Coordination Center, told The Associated Press that a helicopter was dispatched 185 kilometers (115 miles) southeast of the island nation shortly after sundown when the NIVIN sent a distress call that one of its crew had fallen overboard.

The helicopter, which was equipped with heat sensors to detect sources at night, couldn’t locate the sailor after combing a 25 square kilometer (10 square mile) area for close to an hour. The helicopter returned to base for refueling, but Cypriot authorities gave the NIVIN the potential location of the sailor using computer models factoring in prevailing currents in the area at the time.

As the ship scoured the area in the dead of night, the crew heard the sailor crying out for help and managed to pick him up.

Charalambides said an investigation into how the man ended up in the water is the responsibility of the nation under which the ship sails.