A man was rescued yesterday after his small fishing boat hit rocks off the Banffshire coast.
An air and search rescue was launched shortly at about 8am when the sole occupant of the Banff-registered Lawret creel boat issued a mayday call.
It is understood a rope had become wrapped around the boat’s propeller, causing it to drift towards rocks off Cowhythe Hill near Portsoy.
Lifeboats from Macduff and Buckie as well as the Rescue Bond 1 helicopter were scrambled to the scene.
A coastguard cliff rescue team joined the operation and the nearby dive support vessel Norman Pioneer launched a fast rescue craft in response to the call.
A lifeboat spokesman said: “The crew from RNLI Macduff’s Lydia Macdonald were first on the scene of the grounding and found the Lawret lying on her starboard side being buffeted by the water.
“They immediately rescued a lone fisherman from the casualty vessel. Rescue helicopter Bond 1 arrived shortly after and was stood down. Buckie lifeboat William Blannin arrived on scene and watched over the casualty vessel as Lydia Macdonald took the fisherman to Portsoy and in to the care of the coastguard.”
RNLI volunteers discovered that the Lawret, by now trapped on the rocks, had sustained a 12 inch long gash in the side of her hull and was taking on water.
Despite their best efforts to rescue the craft, a rising tide forced them to abandon the vessel moments before it sank about a mile east of Portsoy. The crew escaped unharmed but it is understood some RNLI equipment was lost.
A coastguard spokesman said: “A small fishing boat ran aground on rocks. The man was a bit shaken.”
The fisherman was uninjured.
Macduff lifeboat Lydia Macdonald is unique within the RNLI being the only lifeboat that is launched from a mobile crane.