UPDATED 18:04*
THREE people were taken to hospital this morning after a fishing vessel collided with the breakwater in Cowes Harbour.


Solent Coastguard received multiple 999 calls at around 3am following the accident, which involved four people.

Three of them aboard the fishing boat, Loose Cannon, had made it ashore, but one person was initially reported as missing.

After an extensive air-sea rescue search, which involved the Ventnor and Bembridge Coastguard Rescue teams scouring the Cowes and East Cowes shorelines, the coastguard helicopter from Lee-on-the-Solent and the Cowes and Calshot RNLI lifeboats, the missing man was found, according to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

The missing man had made it ashore and was taken by ambulance to St Mary’s Hospital, Newport, according to Cowes RNLI.


Two of the others on the boat were also taken to hospital from Cowes Parade. One of the men had suffered serious head injuries and another, a spinal injury. The search had been called off when it became apparent the man in the water had managed to reach the shore.

The police cordoned off the area while the search for the missing casualty was taking place.

The boat the crew were in collided with what appeared to have been the end of the harbour breakwater, at high speed. 

The Loose Cannon, which was badly damaged, had drifted on the tide to the Trinity Landing pontoon.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said the police had responded to a report of a sinking vessel and assisted the coastguard in the operation and confirmed they had not arrested any of the men.

&a mp;lt;div>Incorrect details in our earlier report were as a result of conflicting information received from different sources, including the police and MCA. 


* The Isle of Wight NHS Trust have made a statement about the casualties brought in to St Mary's Hospital.

The spokesman said: "The ambulance service responded overnight to an incident in Cowes Harbour. Three males were conveyed to St Mary's Hospital.

"Two of the patients have been discharged. The third patient, who has chest injuries, is stable but may need to be transferred off the Island to another hospital."

Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk