Fishermen rescued by lifeboat at St Monans harbour

Both the all-weather lifeboat and the inshore lifeboat were launched from Anstruther after the alarm was raised at 3.20am.

A third angler also needed assistance after being cut off by the tide.

On arrival at St Monans both boats started searching the area using parachute flares to illuminate the scene and the inshore lifeboat soon located the casualties.

A rescue from shoreside was not possible due to the sea conditions, so in these very challenging conditions the inshore boat was manouvered alongside the breakwater to recover the injured casualties and to take them to ambulance personnel waiting at the old boatyard slip.

A first aid team from the all-weather lifeboat was transferred to the breakwater before the boat moved into the narrow and shallow harbour channel to light up the scene and allow the inshore crew to carry out the rescue as safely as possible through two journeys from the scene to the ambulance.

Michael Bruce, coxwain, said: “In what was very challenging conditions for every member of my team the professionalism and commitment to see the rescue come to a safe and successful conclusion was clearly visible from the moment we launched.

“I’m sure each member of the team will go home with the rewarding feeling that the people in distress are now safe and well.”

In light of the RNLI’s recent ‘Respect the Water’ campaign, Michael added: “Care must always be taken when participating in any kind of activity on the shoreline, especially in weather conditions like we have all been experiencing lately and more so in the hours of darkness.”