THE Scots crew of a stricken trawler were heading safely for shore last night after a daring rescue by fellow fishermen, writes Alison Hardie.
It was the second time the Norwegian crew had risked their lives to come to the aid of the Audacious 2 in mountainous seas in the North Atlantic.
They had fixed a line from their vessel, the Aarsheim Senior, in an attempt to tow the trawler back to port after it lost power. However, the skipper of the Audacious 2 decided to abandon ship when it began taking on water and started to list in gale force 8 winds.
His crew of six, wearing survival suits, braved eight-metre waves to take to liferafts while the coastguard scrambled an RAF Nimrod aircraft and long-range helicopters.
The disabled trawler was being towed to Barra Head in the Western Isles, more than 200 miles from where its rescue began.
High seas and gales had made progress difficult since the tow was fixed on Sunday afternoon.
After the decision was made to abandon ship, the crew fired flares to alert the Norwegians. The Aarsheim Senior released the tow and turned back to rescue the crewmen from the liferafts, prompting praise from the Clyde coastguard.
District controller John Griffiths said: ''The Aarsheim Senior crew showed a tremendous standard of seamanship.
''They faced mountainous seas and hazardous conditions and saved six people's lives. We are delighted the crew are rescued and are on their way to safety.''
The link-up with the larger trawler yesterday had ended a 20-hour drama for the Audacious 2's crew, who are all believed to come from Buckie, Banffshire.
Their boat got into trouble just before 6pm on Saturday after it had been fishing near Rockall, 200 miles west of the Hebrides.
The engines failed and it began to take on water, then all power on the 27-metre long trawler failed.
Left without a radio connection to the coastguard, the crew were forced to use a battery-run VHF radio to call for help. Their signal was picked up by an Irish trawler, The Grove.
A tanker, the Oriental Sapphire, also heard the mayday and moved into the area to help, along with the Aarsheim Senior.
An RAF Nimrod helicopter and a coastguard helicopter on Benbecula were put on standby.
The Grove attached a line yesterday but, after 30 minutes, the poor weather conditions put too much strain on the line and it snapped.
Then the Aarsheim Senior, which had heavy-duty towing gear aboard, successfully fixed a line and began the tow towards the Scottish coast.
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