Three fishermen were rescued from a life raft after their trawler started to sink.
The drama sparked a swift response from RNLI teams from Exmouth and Torbay after an urgent mayday call came in at 9.32pm last night. Coastguard teams immediately requested the launch of two lifeboats after receiving the chilling message: "Fishing vessel sinking".
A 999 call which came later confirmed the crew had abandoned ship for the life raft. In a race against time, which took 12 minutes to reach the stricken vessel, the lifeboats sped towards the location and were joined by HM Coastguard's rescue helicopter.
DevonLive reports that HM Coastguard pinpointed its location approximately 14 miles northeast of Berry Head, after the reading sunken vessel's emergency positioning beacon. The Exmouth crew reached the scene first, managing to recover all three fishermen from their precarious position in the life raft.
Despite their ordeal and exposure to the cold, none of the men required further medical attention. The three crew were transferred safely to the awaiting Severn Class lifeboat from Torbay and brought back to Brixham, where their relieved families were waiting.
A spokesperson for RNLI Exmouth said: "A brilliant result for our volunteers crews, a great example of teamwork with one of our flanking stations and an example of how having the right safety equipment on board can make the difference."
"The (slightly blurry) image shows the moment the fishing trawler crew are retrieved from their life raft to the safety of the Exmouth RNLI lifeboat and then the lifeboat returning to Exmouth with the vessels life raft on our stern."
In another rescue in the same area, The Mirror told in 2019 how two children were pulled from the sea after drifting out 600ft from the shore during rough seas. The rescue operation to save the youngsters was launched around the mouth of the River Axe in East Devon.
It involved two helicopters being sent to search for the children at around 6:30pm. The young pair, their ages unknown, were pulled out from the water around 180 metres offshore and rushed to A&E.
A spokesperson for the Beer Coastguard Rescue Team then said: "One of our rescue officers was first on scene and conned Lyme lifeboat on to the two casualties and they quickly recovered them into the lifeboat.
"Both were cold and one had swallowed seawater. It was decided to lower the paramedic from the helicopter onto the lifeboat to check them over. As it was too rough on the shore for the lifeboat to land, and due to their condition, it was decided to winch both into the helicopter and land on the beach where the HART team and doctor onboard the air ambulance could check them out."