Drunk cruise ship passenger who fell overboard miraculously found alive 15 hours later

A missing cruise ship passenger who fell overboard while drinking at one of the ship's bars has been rescued after being in the water for possibly as long as 15 hours.

The lucky 28-year-old man went missing on the journey, organised by Carnival, from New Orleans to Cozumel, Mexico.

He was last seen drinking at the Carnival Valor's bar with his sister before he left to use the loo at around 11pm on Wednesday. He never returned and his sister raised the alarm at midday the next day to report him missing.

The ship was searched but he couldn't be found and the crew called the United States Coast Guard (USCG) at around 2.30pm.

Lieutenant Seth Gross said he's never been in an operation like it in the 17 years he's been with the coast guard (CNN)

Lieutenant Seth Gross, of the USCG New Orleans branch, told CNN: "We have not been able to confirm when he entered the water, so we're under the assumption [that] any point from Wednesday on, he could have entered the waterway.

"He realistically could have been in the water for 15+ hours before we were able to successfully rescue him."

The ship turned back to help the USCG in their search before it carried on to Cozumel.

US Coast Guard helicopters were deployed in the search for the missing passenger (US Coast Guard)

In a miraculous stroke of luck, the man was spotted in the water by another boat around 20 miles off the Louisiana coast at around 8.25pm.

He was rushed back to New Orleans and is in a stable condition in hospital.

His rescuers were unable to tell how long he had been in the water due to the time difference from where he was last seen. This hampered the rescue efforts.

A huge search operation was launched with a small boat, helicopter, and airplanes being deployed.

The planned route for the Carnival Cruise ship (CNN)

Gross, who's worked in the coast guard for 17 years, said this was "unlike anything I've been apart of."

He continued:"I think this blows normalcy out of the water here. The will to live is something you have to account for in every search and rescue case.

"This is one of the absolutely longest I've heard about and one of those Thanksgiving miracles."

Carnival said in a statement on Friday: "We greatly appreciate the efforts of all, most especially the US Coast Guard and the mariner who spotted the guest in the water."