The crew of a tiny diving vessel that got into difficulty off rocks near a north-east lighthouse have been praised for their quick-thinking.
The 24ft Aquarius lost power as it headed towards Fraserburgh from Stonehaven, and began drifting towards rocks at Rattray Head at about 9.45pm on Monday.
They quickly raised the alarm, and Fraserburgh’s lifeboat crew scrambled to the scene.
The crew of Peterhead’s lifeboat – who were already on the water for a training excercise – were also paged and attended, but were not required.
Fraserburgh lifeboat’s coxswain Victor Sutherland said last night: “With the weather conditions he had, he very quickly drifted back towards Rattray Head lighthouse.
“Thankfully the guy had the appropriate safety equipment on board and was able to deploy his anchor before his boat ran aground.”
Mr Sutherland said his crew’s mission was made more difficult by rocky outcrops and shallow water in the area.
He added: “He did the right thing getting in touch with the coastguard as soon as possible. By the time his anchor took hold, he was fairly close to the shore.
“If he hadn’t got his anchor away when he did, it could have been a very different story.”
The team towed the diving vessel back to safety. No one was injured in the incident.
A coastguard spokeswoman confirmed the vessel suffered engine difficulties.
She said: “Fraserburgh RNLI were called because they were closest to the incident while Peterhead RNLI were out training so they also assisted.
“They took the vessel under tow.
“It got into engine difficulties and ran into the rocks.”
Last night David Anderson from the Peterhead lifeboat station said: “After a request from Aberdeen Coastguard, the RNLI Peterhead lifeboat launched on Monday to assist in the recovery of a dive boat with one person on board allegedly grounded at Rattray Head.
“Fraserburgh lifeboat was also tasked to the rescue. At 22.30pm it was established that Fraserburgh lifeboat had managed to secure a tow to the stricken vessel, and Peterhead lifeboat was then stood down.”