A dog floating alone on an ice floe 15 miles off the Polish coast was rescued by a passing ship.

The dog was found adrift in the Baltic on Monday by the crew of the Baltica.

The crew said the rescue was difficult and the dog kept falling into the icy waters.

The dog was warmed, massaged, and fed aboard the ship, and has now been taken ashore for a vet's check-up.

Ship's captain Jersey Wosachlo said crew members would put their hearts into reuniting the dog with his masters.

Four people have already claimed him, but so far rescuers said there was been no wagging tail of joy from the dog nicknamed "Baltic".

His frozen saga comes as Poland suffers through a winter cold snap where temperatures have dipped to -15C.

Natalia Drgas, a oceanologist with the Baltica crew, said the rescue was difficult and at one point it seemed the dog had drowned.

"It was really a tough struggle. It kept slipping into the water and crawling back on top of the ice. At one point it vanished underwater, under the ship and we thought it was the end, but it emerged again and crawled on an ice sheet," she said.

At that point, the crew lowered a pontoon down to the water, and a crew member managed to grab the dog by the scruff of his neck and drag him to safety.

A firefighter in Grudziadz, on the Vistula river 62 miles from the Bay of Gdansk, said the dog was spotted floating on ice through the city on Saturday.

Firefighters tried to save the dog but could not approach it on the shifting ice sheets, said the officer.

Ms Drgas said so far four people have claimed him - and Baltic has not claimed any of them back.

The dog did not recognise the first two people to come for him, keeping his distance and showing no recognition to a couple and a woman who both said he was theirs.

Two other would-be dog owners were still on their way to Gdynia today for a possible reunion.

A vet who examined the dog after he was brought to shore said he was clearly frightened but in strikingly good shape and had suffered no frostbite.

She described him as a friendly dog who was clearly well treated before getting lost.