A screenshot of Louis Jordan, 37, after he was rescued 200 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Steve Earley/The Virgian-Pilot A man missing at sea for 66 days has been rescued in a disabled boat off the North Carolina coast, the US Coast Guard said on Thursday.

A German-flagged vessel alerted the Coast Guard at about 1:30 p.m. that it had spotted the 37-year-old man and the vessel some 200 miles (320 kilometers) east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and took him aboard.

The man, identified as Louis Jordan of South Carolina, was then airlifted from the ship and was being sent to a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, the Guard said.

The Coast Guard said Jordan was initially reported missing by his family on Jan. 29.

At some point during his ordeal, Jordan started catching and eating fish to stay alive, according to The Virginian-Pilot publication.

Jordan's mother and father said they grew worried when they hadn't heard from their son after he went out on open water to do some fishing in January. The Associated Press reports Jordan's family made several calls to the Coast Guard, which sent crews to search for him. But it would be the German-flagged vessel that finally spotted Jordan, who was hanging on to his capsized boat Thursday afternoon.

The Coast Guard released audio of a phone call between Jordan and his father after Jordan was rescued.

"I was just praying about you because I was afraid that you guys were crying and sad that, you know, I was dead," Jordan said during the call. His father, Frank Jordan responded, "Yeah, well, we were. I thought I lost you."

(Reuters reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Paul Tait)