By the time the Italian coast guard reached this unconscious feline floating on the waves, they thought that they already might be too late.

A few nerve-wracking minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and massaging later, the bedraggled little kitten finally awoke.

Once a veterinarian declared the cat unharmed, he was immediately adopted by the Marsala district office and fondly dubbed Charlie.

(WATCH the rescue in the video above)