The four crew members of a fishing boat that sank 5.5 nautical miles south-east of Malaga were rescued on Thursday.

The Centro de Coordinación de Salvamento (CCS) based in Tarifa received a radio signal at 06.22h from the Benito y María fishing boat to say that they had rescued four crew members from the Portosol, which had just sunk.

The CCS gave instructions to the Benito y María to bring the rescued crew, who were all in good health and required no medical assistance, to Motril Port.

The Skipper of Portosol said that when they were changing course, laying out the net, they heard a loud bang. Then the alarms went off because the boat was taking on water, so they radioed to Benito y María that was fishing nearby for them to come to their assistance.

The stricken fishing boat went down with 300 litres of diesel in its tanks, so CCS sent out their rescue launch, Salvamar Illes Pitiuses, to check the area for floating debris and fuel leaks.

(News: Malaga, Andalucia)