DIVE BOAT FINDS CREW OF SUNKEN FISHING VESSEL

Three fishermen have been rescued from their life raft in Lyme bay after they managed to attract the attention of dive boat 'Blue Turtle' with a flare.

Its believed that the fishermen, who were found 10 nautical miles off Lyme Regis at just before 12 noon, were fishing out of Brixham when their vessel sank at 2am this morning. All three crew made it on to the life raft where they were found by the dive boat at lunchtime today.

Rescue Coordination Centre Manager Mark Rodaway said:
The three fishermen have now been taken from 'Blue Turtle' by the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter based at Portland to the helicopter's base, where they have been checked over by an ambulance crew. The Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen is helping with the arrangements for their journey home to Brixham.

We do not know at the moment why they were unable to call for assistance last night, but they were incredibly lucky to be found after a very long and cold night at sea. Incidents of this nature emphasize the need for fitting Digital Selective Calling (DSC) as an immediate means of alerting rescue authorities and having float free emergency beacons available.


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