Five saved as fishing boat drifts towards rocks at Peterhead

Five people have been rescued after a fishing vessel came within seconds of crashing into rocks at Peterhead.

The alarm was raised at 4.30pm yesterday when the 160-tonne vessel broke free of its two from another fishing boat in stormy conditions.

The town's RNLI lifeboat launched and found the vessel was "dangerously" close to crashing into Peterhead's south breakwater.

However, the crew managed to establish a tow at the first attempt and brought the boat and its five-person crew back to safety.

Patrick Davidson - who was on his first shout as coxswain - said: "This was a really tremendous effort by the crew showing great teamwork and seamanship by all involved in really difficult conditions.

"If we had arrived seconds later the boat would have hit the rocks and it may have been a different outcome.

"As soon as I saw how close she was to the rocks I immediately requested the helicopter - due to the perilous situation I realised we only had one attempt to get this right.

"The crew and the skipper of the boat could not thank the lifeboat enough and said they’d be forever grateful, which makes all the effort worthwhile.

"There have been weather and flood warnings in place across Aberdeenshire today - the conditions were very dangerous but everyone worked together to ensure the safest outcome."

Jurgen Wahle, lifeboat operations manager, commended the crew for their quick and crucial efforts to save lives at sea.

He said: "This was really a phenomenal performance by all involved, showcasing great leadership from Pat on his first shout as coxswain and excellent teamwork from the rest of the crew.

"This was a critical incident and the effort from everyone on shore and at sea has resulted in five lives being saved. It is a tremendous outcome, and I’d like to commend the bravery displayed by the crew."