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Fishermen recall sinking drama      25/7/14

 

Three fishermen who had a narrow escape when their shellfish boat sank rapidly in the Minch have praised coastguards for rescuing them.

 

Skipper David Mackay, Andrew McPhee, 25, and Scott Mackenzie, 23, battled in vain as the sea gushed into their creel boat, MFV Osprey on Wednesday evening.

 

The 14-metre-long Wick registered vessel was flooding fast about five miles off the north west coast of Scotland - between Cape Wrath and Kinlochbervie.

 

As the water rose, the engine stopped working and the 49-year-old boat lost power.

 

The crew - from Melvich and Thurso - managed to transmit an emergency Mayday electronic distress call by pressing an alert button on the VHF radio before the incoming sea water reached the wheelhouse.

 

The crew desperately bailed out water by hand buckets and the boat’s emergency pumps were working full out but to no avail.

 

Forced to abandon the boat, they launched a liferaft. Three minutes later, they were in tears as the vessel listed to one side and sank below the waves.

 

Stornoway coastguard helicopter speed to the scene and airlifted them to hospital in Lewis.

 

Crewman Martin McPhee: “It was a sad sight seeing her go down. We tried to save the boat. We stayed on her as long as possible but it was far too dangerous.”

 

“We were all frightened but it could have been worse- we could be dead.”

 

The men possessions went down with the boat including clothes, money and bank cards but they were greatly helped by The Fishermen's Mission in Stornoway.

 

The mission put the fishermen up in a hotel, made sure they got hot meals and paid for their ferry fare and travel home.

 

Mr Mcphee said: “If it wasn’t for the fishermen’s mission we would be sitting here naked. We wouldn’t be able to go home or get accommodation after being discharged from hospital.”

 

He added: “If it wasn’t for the coastguard we would still be sitting in a liferaft, miles off the coast.”

 

The crew abandoned ship by launching a liferaftt.

 

Stornoway coastguard helicopter spotted the liferaft near the submerged vessel.

 

The helicopter winched the men onboard the aircraft and airlifted them to the accident and emergency department at the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway.