Two fishermen were dramatically rescued by Shoreham RNLI early Saturday morning after their boat sank suddenly, leaving them stranded in open water three miles off the Sussex coast.
The incident occurred just after 7:10am when the crew of a 17-foot fishing vessel raised the alarm with the coastguard, reporting that their boat was rapidly taking on water. With only seconds to spare, the men managed to put on lifejackets before being flung into the sea as their vessel disappeared beneath the surface.
Shoreham’s all-weather lifeboat launched swiftly, with RNLI volunteers racing to the scene and locating the pair in the water. Both men were pulled aboard the lifeboat and brought back to safety.
One of the rescued men, Robert, described the terrifying ordeal:
“We can’t believe how quickly the boat sank and we ended up in the water. We were so relieved to see the lifeboat. We both have children and it might have been a different story for our families if the lifeboat crew hadn’t been there.”
The RNLI is once again reminding all boat users to ensure they have proper safety equipment and a means of alerting the coastguard when heading out to sea.
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