Two rescued after fishing boat sinks off Scottish coast

Pair climbed onto life raft until Coastguard arrived

Two rescued after fishing boat sinks off Scottish coast (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Two people have been rescued after their fishing boat began to sink off the coast of Scotland in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The pair issued a mayday call to report that their boat was taking on a large amount of water around Lismore island near Oban, Scotland, at around 3am on Thursday, the Coastguard said.

They abandoned the boat and climbed onto their life raft where they stayed until they were rescued around 4am.

The RNLI Oban all-weather lifeboat went to the scene and rescued the pair before taking them back to Oban in Argyll and Bute, arriving at around 5am.

The lifeboat reached the scene before a Coastguard helicopter which was also called out to the incident.

A Coastguard spokesman said: “We had calm weather which was a blessing.

“Thankfully it was quite close to Lismore island and the sea was reasonably benign for them.”

Two people were rescued after their fishing boat began to sink in waters near Oban, Scotland (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The crew were said to be fine though a bit shaken after the experience.

The boat, a commercial fishing vessel, is now partially submerged.

Earlier this year, two men were rescued by emergency workers after their boat capsized off the coast of Devon.

David Henderson and Brian Harding were on a fishing trip on the River Axe in April when their 16ft-long boat was hit by a wave, hurling them into the icy water.

The men were taken to hospital where it took two hours for their body temperatures to return to normal.

Footage of the rescue was released by the RNLI to raise awareness of the importance of safety at sea.