Couple rescued after clinging onto capsized boat in Atlantic Ocean for hours

Specialist rescue swimmers help save sailors whose round-the-world trip came to an end in stormy conditions

Rescue swimmers with the US Coast Guard helped save sailors on a round-the-world voyage (Getty)

A couple was rescued by the US Coast Guard after their sailing boat capsized in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday evening.

The two sailors held onto the capsized vessel for hours, stranded in the middle of the sea nearly 65 miles off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

They were on their way from the Bahamas to New York as part of a round-the-world trip that has lasted two years when they hit stormy conditions, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Andy Kendrick, who spoke to the Associated Press.

The Coast Guard then received a satellite distress signal alerting them to the capsized vessel, a 55-foot craft named Bertie.

Specialist rescue swimmers who found the two hanging onto the boat helped get them airlifted by helicopter to hospital. The Coast Guard reportedly dispatched a plane, cutter and helicopter to the scene.

The Coast Guard has not released the identity of either sailor or a status of their conditions.

The rescue swimmers were aided in their search for the boat by strobes in the water and by the couple having properly registered safety equipment aboard the vessel, Mr Kendrick told Philadelphia’s The Inquirer.

The paper said neither sailor suffered serious injuries.

The Coast Guard also received signals from the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon at about 9pm local time, which helped them track down an emergency contact and identify the ship.

The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.