Three fishermen were forced to cling to their overturned vessel and wait while UK rescuers rush to their location.
The crew later reported that their vessel capsized quickly with all 3 in the wheelhouse.
They had no time to conduct any distress alerting whatsoever.
They had to swim free to the surface, and they then got on the hull of the upturned vessel.
The EPIRB attached to the life raft then surfaced, quickly followed by the life raft, which they then boarded and waited.
The EPIRB was the only method of distress alerting.
MCA launched both RNLI and helicopter SAR assets and sent out a Mayday relay, prompting other vessels to respond and make way to the location.
SAR assets successfully homed into the beacon location and all 3 crew onboard were successfully rescued.
The men held on for over two and a half hours as the boat continued to slowly sink, fearing for their lives.
“The men showed great bravery managing to get out of the water and onto the hull of the boat, not knowing when help would arrive.”
“Luckily the life raft had the beacon fitted which alerted the emergency services with an exact location, or the outcome would have been very different.”
Read more here:
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/fishing-trio-cling-life-sinking-18341195