Eight fishermen have been rescued after their boat sank off Shetland in the early morning of today.
The 27-metre vessel, a fishing boat from Shetland, started to take in water 36 miles east of the islands.
Stranded at sea, the eight-strong crew onboard activated their emergency distress beacon as the boat began to sink.
HM Coastguard were first made aware of the situation at about 5am.
RNLI Lerwick lifeboat was tasked to the scene, alongside rescue helicopters from Sumburgh and Norway.
An HM Coastguard spokesman said: “The fishermen said they were taking in water and that they would need to use the lifeboats.
“Helicopter Coastguard Rescue 900, from Shetland and Helicopter Brava 9, from Norway, were sent to rescue the crew.”
Rescue teams braved strong northerly winds to reach the crew’s location, pinpointed by their DSC’ martitime distress signal
Within a matter of minutes, the vessel had begun to take in water from the stern, sinking quickly into the North Sea.
The stranded crews were airlifted from the wreckage before being taken to Sumburgh Airport, where medical teams assessed them.
Despite the ordeal, the crew were found to be”safe and well.”
Lerwick lifeboat recover debris from sunken trawler
Around 15 minutes later, Lerwick lifeboat arrived at the scene of the sinking.
The crew conducted a thorough search of the area and recovered floating debris from the surface.
The lifeboat returned to Lerwick harbour around 10am and was refuelled and made ready for service again.
This afternoon, staff from the Shetland lifeboat station shared a series of images in a post published on their social media page.
In a statement, Stephen Manson, Lerwick Lifeboat coxswain said: “We’re pleased that all crew were safely recovered by helicopter, given the cold sea temperature and rough sea conditions.
“The fishing vessel was well equipped and their distress beacon gave their exact location for the rescue response.
“Our volunteer crew are always able to respond to any request to launch for vessels in distress.”
