Dramatic footage was released today of the rescue of five fishermen moments before their boat sank in rough seas.

Irish vessel the Iuda Naofa started taking on water about 48 miles north of the Isle of Lewis on Monday morning and made a distress call to the coastguard.

A rescue helicopter was sent to the scene and dropped a salvage pump to clear water from the boat, but it was soon swamped and started to sink.

The footage shows the fishermen scrambling on the upturned stern of the boat as a coastguard winchman was sent down his line.

A large wave crashes into the sinking vessel, sending four of the stranded crew into the sea. The last fisherman, close to the boat’s still-turning propeller, manages to escape just moments before it is completely submerged.

A winch line had been connected between the helicopter and the boat but it had to be released as the vessel went down to prevent the helicopter being pulled down with it.

The coastguard managed to reach all of the crew stranded in the water.

 

Two men were able to reach another nearby vessel, the Star of Hope, in a rescue raft while the other three men were airlifted to the Western Isles hospital, where they were treated for mild hypothermia.