Five fishermen were rescued by helicopter as their ship sank off the coast of Fraserburgh.
The crew of Broch-registered boat Ocean Quest FR3375 were airlifted to safety as their boat took on water 70 miles from land.
It was one of two serious incidents at sea – the other a stricken vessel left powerless as a rope fouled its prop – that kept emergency crews working for nine hours.
The most serious of the incidents developed following a distress call received by Aberdeen coastguard at about 5.30am.
The Ocean Quest’s crew notified the service that they were taking on water and requested urgent assistance.
The prawn trawler team attempted to pump the water from onboard, while several other vessels stood-by, ready to help if required.
At 7.55am, the decision was taken to abandon that effort and evacuate the crew with all possible haste.
Coastguard helicopter 151 airlifted the crew from the vessel, transporting them to the safety of the Fishermen’s Mission. The Ocean Quest was confirmed as sunk at 9.15am.
A spokesman for the coastguard said: “Aberdeen coastguard received a call at about 5.30am from the Ocean Quest saying they were taking on water.
“They were 75 miles north-east of Fraserburgh at the time.
“Crew members attempted to pump out the water but the decision was made to evacuate crew from the boat at 7.55am.
“Some other fishing vessels were in the area ready to assist if necessary.
“The five members of the crew were safely airlifted from the vessel by coastguard helicopter 151.”
It is thought the sunk vessel was owned by a local fishing family but they could not be reached for comment.
For the crew of the Fraserburgh lifeboat it was just one of two major incidents as they were just returning from an earlier call-out when the report of the Ocean Quest taking on water came through.
The team had been paged at 1.10am on Saturday to help fishing vessel OB38 Rebecca Jeneen, which was 29 miles from shore.
A spokesman for the RNLI said: “A rope had fouled its prop and the boat was powerless.
“The lifeboat launched quickly and with Brian Wells coxswain, John Best mechanic and volunteers Chay Cumming, Jason Flett, Mark Hadden, Lindsay Palmer and Shane Richardson aboard, they headed towards the stricken vessel.
“Arriving on scene they quickly secured the vessel and began to tow the Rebecca Jeneen back to Fraserburgh.
“After a few hours and only a few miles from Fraserburgh they were tasked again to another incident.”
The spokesman said the crew had been immediately instructed to go to the aid of the Ocean Quest.
Buckie Lifeboat were paged to take over the final few miles of the tow, taking OB38 Rebecca Jeneen safely into Fraserburgh Harbour at 8.50am.
He added: “Fraserburgh Lifeboat had covered 40 or 50 miles towards the Ocean Quest and were still around 20 miles away when they were advised the crew had been airlifted to safety.
“They were stood down by the coastguard and returned to station at 10.05am and on the way were informed the Ocean Quest had sunk.”
Fraserburgh and Peterhead coastguard rescue teams assisted the Buckie lifeboat with securing the stricken Rebecca Jeneen ,which is now docked safely in Fraserburgh Harbour.
