RAFT 4 SAVED AS THEIR BOAT SINKS

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Jan 28, 2007 | by JAMES HARPER

FOUR fishermen were plucked to safety from a life-raft after their boat sank in the North Sea yesterday.

The crew of the Evening Star told coastguards they were abandoning ship at 3.30pm, around 40 miles east of Peterhead in north-east Scotland.

The vessel was then going under, battered by 10ft waves.

The skipper had alerted Aberdeen Coastguard an hour earlier as the boat started taking water. A lifeboat was immediately sent from Peterhead, and a rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth.

Rescuers on the chopper spotted the crew's raft at 3.45pm and started to winch them to safety one by one. All were on board in 25 minutes.

Aberdeen Coastguard said paramedics checked the men over and all appeared well, though they were flown to a hospital in Aberdeen for further checks.

Bill Smith, watch officer of Aberdeen coastguard, said: "The operation went cleanly. Given what has happened in recent times, that is a successful resolution."

The successful outcome was welcomed by rescuers, as the fishing community of north-east Scotland has been hit by tragedy in recent months.

In October last year four seamen from Fife and Aberdeen were lost when the fishing boat Meridian disappeared in Norwegian waters. Only one crewman's body has since been recovered.