ABANDONSHIP

THIS is the dramatic moment fishermen were rescued by a lifeboat after their vessel sank off the Argyll coast.

Two crew members were forced into the sea when their ship went down within a matter of minutes.

Volunteer rescuers from Oban RNLI were first alerted to an incident at 1pm on Wednesday.

HM Coastguard asked the lifeboat crew to go to the aid of four people on board a 17-metre fishing boat taking on water south of the Garvellach islands.

The Mora Edith MacDonald vessel arrived on the scene 50 minutes later and rescuers discovered two members of the crew waiting on a life-raft.

The two others had remained on board to try to stem the inflow of water.

The Prestwick-based Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 199 and a local workboat were standing by during the operation but weather conditions made it to transfer a salvage pump across to the fishing boat.

The pair on the life-raft were safely brought aboard the lifeboat despite strong winds and heavy sea.