TWO people have been rescued after they were forced to abandon their sinking fishing boat and take to a life raft.
The pair sent out a mayday call to report their vessel was taking on significant amounts of water in the vicinity of Lismore island near Oban at around 3am on Thursday, the Coastguard has said.
They abandoned the boat and climbed on to their life raft where they took refuge until around 4am.
The RNLI Oban all-weather lifeboat went to the scene and rescued the two people before taking them back to Oban in Argyll and Bute at approximately 5am.
The lifeboat reached the scene before a Coastguard helicopter which had also been called to the incident.
A Coastguard spokesman said: “We had calm weather which was a blessing.
“Thankfully it was quite close to Lismore island and the sea was reasonably benign for them.” The crew were said to be fine although were a bit shaken by the experience.
The boat, a commercial fishing vessel, is now partially submerged.
