A young boy and two men who were stranded at sea for six hours after their boat began sinking off the Queensland coast are lucky to be alive, authorities say.
Water police raced to find the seven-year-old and two adults after receiving a distress call from the 5.2 metre vessel, which was taking on water just after 1.30am on Sunday.
The coast guard was deployed to their last known location about 14 kilometres off the coast of Caloundra and all vessels in the area were notified the boat was sinking, police said in a statement.
The trio were spotted in the water by a tanker that was anchored off-shore which notified authorities who rescued them just before 8am.
"It is very lucky that all three were found alive this morning," Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Kristy MacAlister said.
The boy was winched into a helicopter and taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.
"He was suffering from hypothermia because he had been in the water for quite some time," Ms MacAlister said.
"It is always a delicate operation when you're winching a patient that's potentially suffering from hypothermia because, as you winch them out of the water, the wind temperature can also decrease the body temperature further."
The two men, aged 48 and 39, were brought back to land by marine rescue, and it is understood they were also suffering hypothermia.
