Three people have been winched to safety by rescue helicopter after abandoning their fishing boat for a life raft in rough seas off Taranaki early today.
The Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) received a Mayday call around 4.10am from a 17m fishing boat, advising that the boat was sinking, and the three people on board were getting into a life raft.
The boat was around 14km off Patea, south Taranaki.
Communications with the fishermen were lost shortly afterwards, and a distress beacon, which was briefly activated, also stopped signalling.
The Taranaki Rescue Helicopte arrived on scene just before 6am, sighting the life raft around 6.15am.
The rescue helicopter winched the crew to safety and has transported them to Taranaki Base Hospital for medical assessment.
The nearby vessel Spirit of Resolution was also tasked to the boat's location, and arrived at the scene just after 6.30am.
Spirit of Resolution remained on scene while the people were winched from the life raft, in case assistance was required.
Source: www.stuff.co.nz