A major rescue operation will resume on Saturday morning after a tugboat with two people on board capsized off Greenock in the west of Scotland, police said.
Helensburgh RNLI lifeboat, several police launch boats and rescue craft from vessels in the area went to the scene on the River Clyde when the alarm was raised at about 3.30pm on Friday.
A rescue helicopter and other coastguard teams also attended.
They said there were two crew members on board the vessel when it capsized.
The search will resume at 8am on Saturday morning, police said.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Police were made aware of a tugboat having capsized off Custom House Quay in Greenock around 3.30pm on 24 February.
“Emergency services attended, including HM Coastguard and RNLI.
“Officers, including Police Scotland’s dive and marine unit and air support unit, have been carrying out searches in the area and these searches will resume on the morning of 25 February.
“Inquiries are ongoing, assisted by partners, to establish the full circumstances.”
Police cordoned off the area near Custom House Quay in the Inverclyde town.
Eyewitnesses said they saw the tug escorting the Hebridean Princess cruise ship into the harbour when it was apparently pulled over.
Daniel McBride said the tug had capsized “pretty instantaneously”.
The eyewitness told the BBC: “At that point I contacted the coastguard and was asked to go and keep eyes, so I parked up and watched.
“Within 12 minutes the first coastguard vessel came. At that point the boat was still capsized with a hull visible in the water.
“I witnessed them bashing on the hull, I guess trying to see if there was any signs inside. Unfortunately then the boat went down a short time afterwards.”
Members of the coastguard stood down from their role in the operation on Friday evening.
A coastguard spokesperson said: “HM Coastguard has been responding to reports of a capsized vessel off Custom House Quay in Greenock today.
“It is believed the vessel had two crew members onboard.
“Just before 3.30pm coastguard rescue teams from Helensburgh and Greenock, a lifeboat from Helensburgh RNLI and the coastguard helicopter from Prestwick were sent to assist and searched the area.
“Multiple vessels on the Clyde in the vicinity of the incident also responded, including an MoD police vessel.
“The coastguard’s involvement in the surface search was terminated at 8pm.”
The Beacon arts centre in Greenock announced on Twitter that roads around the venue had been closed by police as a result of the rescue operation and Friday night’s performances had been postponed.
It said: “Due to an ongoing emergency incident on the River Clyde, roads around the Beacon have been closed by police and there is no access to our building.
“We have been advised by police to cancel tonight’s performances at very short notice.”
The centre added: “We will reschedule tonight’s performances or provide full refunds and will be in touch with our customers with more details as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience.”
