Seven fishermen in a sinking trawler, five nautical miles off Sagres, were rescued from their liferaft by a nearby fishing boat at dawn today.
According to the Captain of the Port of Lagos, Conceição Duarte, the seven crewmembers of the Luzé, from Póvoa de Varzim, "were on a life raft, are all well and they did not need medical assistance."
According to the port Captain, the vessel was about five nautical miles from Carrapateira, off Sagres, when a distress signal was received at 04:00 this morning stating that water was flooding into the boat and that it was in danger of sinking.
The Sagres lifeboat (pictured) was launched and a fishing boat that happened to be nearby, was asked to help.
This second boat, the Lagoal, got to the scene first and picked up the crew members, five Portuguese, one Moroccan and one Ukrainian, taking them to the Port of Baleeira in Sagres.
The 20-metre Luzé, valued at between €600,000 and €700,000, belongs to José Lourenço who was on board and who said that the leak was due to a malfunction in the propeller area. The trawler later sunk.
The fishermen were sent back home Póvoa de Varzim and Caxinas by taxi.