A fishing vessel ran aground while in the North Sea just off the Weser and Elbe estuaries in Germany on Monday, June 22.
The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) said the incident occurred in the late evening (local time) of Monday when the locally-registered fishing vessel Zenit became stranded in the northern area of the Nordergründe about 14 nautical miles northwest of Cuxhaven.
The DGzRS added that smoke was detected in the fishing vessel's engine room, though the two fishermen on board were uninjured.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Bremen immediately alerted the DGzRS rescue boats Hermann Marwede based in Heligoland and Bernhard Gruben in Hooksiel. Both vessels deployed shortly afterwards.
A customs enforcement vessel and Wangerland, another fishing boat, were also in the area and diverted to where Zenit had become stranded to render assistance.
Wangerland reached Zenit at around 00:45 on Tuesday, June 23, and handed over a tow line. However, the water level was too low for a successful towing operation to be conducted.
The DGzRS boats arrived in the area shortly afterwards. The DGzRS crews then inspected the stranded Zenit and confirmed that there was no water ingress and that the smoke reported earlier had dissipated.
A daughtercraft from Bernhard Gruben was deployed to secure a tow line to Zenit, and the latter was finally removed from the area at around 02:00.
Although the towing convoy encountered rough seas with waves up to two metres high, all vessels safely reached the Port of Hooksiel by 07:45.