Two sailors - and their two dogs - have been rescued after five months at sea.

Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiaba set sail from Hawaii with their dogs Zeus and Valentine earlier this year.

However, they lost their engine during a storm on May 30th. They decided to use the ship's sail to travel towards their planned destination of Tahiti instead.

They began issuing daily distress calls two months later, 'long' after their estimated date for arriving back on land.

While the distress calls didn't reach any other ships or shore stations, the pair managed to survive thanks to water purifiers and a year's worth of food supplies such as pasta and rice.

It wasn't until this week that they were finally discovered by Taiwanese fishing vessel 900 miles southeast of the Japanese coast.

They have now been rescued by a US Navy crew, with Ms Appel explaining: "They saved our lives. The pride and smiles we had when we saw [US Navy] on the horizon was pure relief."