Alert system 'saved fishermen'

The RNLI's Penlee lifeboat helped search for the fishermen

A "man overboard" alert system has been credited with saving the lives of two Cornish fishermen.

Skipper Daniel Gummow, 24, and Joe Rothwell, 22, were on board the 10m (33ft) Levan Mor of Looe when it sank off Penzance on Wednesday.

The pair were airlifted to safety from a life raft by an RNAS Culdrose helicopter after their position was pinpointed by the RNLI's new system.

The Man Over Board (MOB) Guardian was fitted to the vessel three months ago.

"It all happened really quickly. In less than a minute the boat had capsized and we were in the water," Mr Gummow said.

It was such a relief to see the helicopter coming, and at that point we knew the MOB Guardian unit had done its job Joe Rothwell

"We didn't have time to put out a distress call on the radio so when we got into the life raft we didn't know if the emergency services had been alerted or not.

"We weren't due in to Newlyn until the next day so it could have been many hours before anyone missed us.

"We owe our lives to the system."

It is thought to be the first time the monitoring system has been used by a fishing boat crew to raise the alarm.

The alarm sends regular position reports via satellite from the vessel to the RNLI's operations room.

On Wednesday, when the Levan Mor of Looe missed a scheduled report, the alarm was raised and the vessel's last known position was given to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Mild hypothermia

Although the life raft had drifted, it was just four miles (6km) from the last position reported by the MOB Guardian unit.

The men, who were suffering from mild hypothermia, were taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

Mr Rothwell said: "It was such a relief to see the helicopter coming, and at that point we knew the MOB Guardian unit had done its job."

Sean Friday, the RNLI's fishing safety co-ordinator, said grants would be available until the end of September to help fishermen purchase the MOB Guardian units.