Two swim ashore after boat sinks

A helicopter found the pair who swam ashore to a remote area

A three-hour air and sea search took place to find two people lost at sea after their boat sank off Kent.

Thames and Essex coastguards, teamed up with a helicopter from Suffolk, and lifeboats from Sheerness and Southend, to find the pair.

The alert came at 0100 BST but the location of the motor boat was unknown, watch manager Simon Milnes said.

He said the two swam ashore and were found by helicopter. The boat had no flares or safety equipment, he added.

Extreme cold

Mr Milnes said the initial call reported a vessel drifting and taking on water with two persons on board, but coastguards could not get any more information about their exact position.

Emergency teams knew the pair were "somewhere off the north Kent coast, off the Isle of Grain", he said.

The two people, who were found in a remote spot, were taken to Southend Hospital, both soaking wet and suffering from extreme cold, Mr Miles said.

You should know where you are, for us to be able to find you and assist Simon Milnes

The exact location of where the boat sank, or how long the pair were in the water, remains unknown.

Mr Milnes said: "They were very lucky.

"It's quite a remote area where they were - and with the cold they were suffering, hypothermia could well have set in."

Adding that the boat had no flares or tracking equipment, he said: "It didn't aid us at all in trying to locate them.

"Be sure of your boat and your safety equipment on board. These are all essentials.

"Should you get any difficulty, you should know where you are, for us to be able to find you and assist."