Five rescued after fishing boat narrowly avoids crashing into rocks on Scottish coast

Lifeboat crews from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station at Peterhead on Scotland’s east coast have successfully rescued all five occupants of a distressed fishing boat that was seconds away from crashing into rocks on Friday, February 5.

The alarm at Peterhead RNLI was raised at 16:30 local time on Friday when a fishing vessel was towing another fishing vessel into Peterhead Harbour and the tow broke numerous times due to the stormy weather conditions.

Tasked by HM Coastguard, the RNLI volunteer crew rushed to the station, launched the lifeboat The Misses Robertson of Kintail, and were on-scene within minutes.

The distressed vessel was dangerously close to crashing into the rocks at Peterhead South Breakwater and, due to an easterly gale and significant swell combined with a backwash, the conditions were extremely challenging when the lifeboat arrived.

The lifeboat crew established a tow at the first attempt and brought the fishing vessel and its crew back to safety in tough and time-critical conditions, saving the five lives onboard.