Sydney  - Two sailors from Myanmar rescued by an Australian coastal patrol boat claim they had drifted for 25 days in a polystyrene box without food and water, news reports said Tuesday.

Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins said the men were on a 12-metre Thai fishing boat with 18 others that it sank in rough seas December 23.

"That's the story that we've been given by the two survivors," Jiggins told national broadcaster ABC. "Both of them have been very adamant about their story, so we can only take their story on face value and follow through on the information they have provided to us."

The pair, who were picked up on Saturday in the Torres Strait, are hospitalized on Thursday Island in far-north Queensland for treatment of dehydration. (dpa)