One rescued and two missing as Sussex fishing boat sinks

One man has been rescued and taken to hospital after found clinging to buoy

Fishing boats look for colleagues after fishing boat sinks as a search and rescue helicopter looks from above (Rex Features)

Two men remain missing after a fishing boat sank off the Sussex coast.

A search began around the area in Seaford, near Newhaven, early on Saturday morning after the coastguard received an alert from the ship’s emergency beacon at 6am, with initially the three people onboard reported missing.

One crew member was rescued after he was found clinging to a buoy was pulled from the water by the Newhaven RNLI lifeboat before being rushed to hospital, the coastguard said.

The distress signal from the fishing vessel Joanna C was about three nautical miles off the Seaford coast.

Two helicopters and two lifeboats have been deployed while a coastguard rescue team are checking for sightings from the shore.

Meanwhile, other fishing boats in the area are assisting in the sea search.

Piers Stanbury, HM Coastguard controller, said: “Thankfully one of the three people on board at the time of sinking has been pulled out of the water and brought to shore by the Newhaven RNLI lifeboat but the intensive air and sea search for the two missing crew continues.”

He added: "Debris has been located close to location of the EPIRB alert location but no life raft has been found as yet."