Watch as Russian man who survived 67 days at sea on tiny inflatable boat gets rescued

A Russian man was rescued this week after spending 67 days adrift in the Sea of Okhotsk on a tiny inflatable boat, officials said Tuesday.

The Russian Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office and Russian media reports said the man was rescued Monday when a fishing vessel spotted a small inflatable boat drifting off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The motorless vessel was found about 600 miles from the location where the survivor, named in Russian state media as 46-year-old Mikhail Pichugin, and two family members set off in early August.

In a video of the rescue released by the Russian Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office, the emaciated man can be seen calling for help as the fishing vessel's lights fall on his small boat bobbing on the waves.

As the crew dragged him onboard and to safety, he told his rescuers “I have no strength left."

Watch video of the dramatic rescue here :

More than two months adrift

Pichugin left on a whale-watching trip with his brother, 49, and 15-year-old nephew in late summer, bringing with them a small amount of food and water rations. The remains of Pichugin's companions were found strapped to the small boat when he was rescued. Local Russian media has reported exposure and starvation as the likely causes of death.

The boat's motor was still functioning when the trio departed from Cape Perovsky to head toward Sakhalin Island on Aug. 9, according to Russian reports, but it failed sometime after, setting the boat adrift in what is considered the coldest sea in East Asia. An initial rescue attempt launched at that time turned up empty.

Russian newspaper Izvestia released a video interview of Pichugin recovering in the hospital, at which time he explained he drank rainwater and slept in a warm wool sleeping bag to survive. News outlets also attributed Pichugin's survival to his weight, saying he lost half his body weight by the time he was found, weighing just around 110 lbs when discovered.

The prosecutor's office will investigate the events surrounding the deaths of the other two men on board.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch as Russian man who survived 67 days at sea on tiny inflatable boat gets rescued