Rescuers search for fishing vessel with two aboard that sank off Pembrokeshire coast

A fishing vessel believed to be carrying two crew members has sunk off the coast of Pembrokeshire, the UK Coastguard has said. The Coastguard got a 999 call around 2.30pm on Thursday 28 April from a member of public who spotted the vessel in difficulty near St David's Head.

A search for the vessel, which was about a mile (1.6km) out to sea near Abereiddy, has been called off for the night after the scrambling of three RNLI lifeboats, a search and rescue helicopter using thermal image cameras, as well as Coastguard Rescue teams from St David's Head and Fishguard.

Jim Phillips, from the RNLI in St David's said when rescuers got to the scene, the boat had sunk and all that was left was debris on the water

"We know there were two people on board this boat but unfortunately there's been no sign of them since," Mr Phillips said according to the BBC. The RNLI said conditions were rough with the weather expected to worsen.

A spokesman for St David's Head Lifeboat Station told the BBC that the search on Thursday was "intensive".

"In that area where there are rocks under the surface, they wouldn't have been fishing, so we are not sure what they were doing there. We're trying to plot the tides to try and see where they could have got washed into a cove or washed to shore."

Dyfed-Powys Police have appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

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