A fish carrier with four people has come close to abandonment at the most north-westerly point of the Scottish coast.
Stornoway Coastguard were alerted after 32m fishing carrier, the Norholm, lost engine power just south of Cape Wrath, Sutherland, at 8pm.
Four people were on board the vessel when the boat encountered the problems and a strong westerly wind began pushing them towards the Highland coastline.
Lochinver lifeboat was called to the scene, along with two tugboats from Shetland and Orkney.
Stornoway Coastguard’s rescue-100 helicopter was also called when the situation worsened and rescuers were considering abandoning the vessel.
The boat is now safely under tow but a Stornoway Coastguard spokeswoman said it was not yet “a permanent solution”.
She added: “The vessel lost engine power through an engine problem and was unable to restore it.
“When she took to deploy her anchor, two of them, she was dragging. It came pretty close. The lifeboat has managed to take her under tow but that’s not a permanent solution.
“They are holding her in safe water. Tugs have been sent down to her from Orkney and Shetland.
“When it was all happening it was a westerly 78mph wind. They were getting very close to the shore. We were very, very close to considering abandoning the vessel.”