A fishing boat has sunk four miles off the Isle of Man after attempts to salvage the vessel failed.

The incident happened off the coast of yesterday afternoon (Wednesday).

Douglas RNLI launched its all-weather lifeboat, the Joy and Charles Beeby, at around 1.29pm yesterday after the alarm was raised by the Coastguard.

Once at the scene, rescuers found that another fishing boat had been trying to tow the stricken 15m fishing vessel to safety that was taking on water.

However the towing attempt failed and rescuers sprang into action, setting up a salvage pump on board the troubled ship in a bid to pump out the water which was accumulating as a result of the flooding.

Once the pumping mechanism was set-up, rescuers attempted to tow the vessel to safety and raised the alarm with the Isle of Man Fire and Rescue service to deploy additional pumps to Douglas Harbour in preparation for the boat’s return.

But just minutes into the towing attempt, the vessel’s skipper asked to be taken off the sinking ship as the situation continued to deteriorate.

Unfortunately, efforts to salvage the vessel proved futile, and the vessel sank around four miles off Laxey at 6.47pm.

The RNLI crew then diligently collected debris including ropes, baskets and a life raft from the scene.

Peter Cowin, Volunteer Coxswain said: ‘The professionalism and dedication displayed by the young crew, including Lavinia, Rob, and Phil, was particularly commendable throughout the operation.

‘Although the boat unfortunately sank, we are glad we were able to bring back all the people onboard, and it is a testament to the future of this station the skills and hard work I saw from the younger crew members.’

After being stood down, the RNLI volunteers washed down the Joy and Charles Beeby and refuelled it to ensure the lifeboat was ready for the next emergency.