A fisherman had a lucky escape after falling overboard without a lifejacket and was soon lost to sight. He was spotted later by a passing ship.

The fishing boat, Nueva Julia, had been operating several nautical miles off the coast of Granada when one of the crew members disappeared overboard.

The Skipper immediately radioed the Guardia Civil Maritime Service around 11.55h yesterday morning. We say immediately, but the fact is that at first they hadn’t noticed that he was no longer aboard. The Skipper told them that the last time somebody had seen him was around 11.30h.

The Servicio Marítimo despatched Salvamar Gianah (S&R vessel), which operates out of Motril Port to the last known, approximate location of the missing man, as well as Helimer 220 (S&R helicopter) and Sasemar 101 (S&R airplane). They also alerted ships in the area as to the situation.

Some hours later the merchant ship Askabed reported in that they had found him and pulled him out of the sea. Helimer 220 was sent to the ship to pick up the victim and fly him to dry land, where he was transferred by ambulance to hospital suffering from hypothermia.

(News: Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)