Eleven people rescued as fishing vessel catches fire off Cork coast

Eleven people have been rescued from a British fishing vessel that caught fire off the coast of County Cork.

After 9am on Wednesday morning, the Coast Guard was alerted to a vessel in difficulty around 60 miles south west of Mizen Head.

The UK-registered fishing vessel Piedras was reported to be taking on water and had lost propulsion.

Shortly after raising the alarm, the 11 crew members on board decided to abandon the vessel and transfer to another fishing vessel, the Armaven.

Smoke was seen coming from the vessel after the crew had abandoned it, it is understood.

No injuries were reported, a statement from the Department of Transport said.

The patrol vessel LE Samuel Beckett, an Air Corps maritime patrol aircraft, and the Coast Guard helicopter R115 were immediately called to the scene after the alarm was raised. A second Coast Guard helicopter remained on standby at Cork airport.

By Wednesday afternoon the vessel had sunk in the area where it got into difficulty.

The LE Samuel Beckett remained on scene to monitor the situation.

It had been expected that the Armaven vessel will proceed to Castletownbere to bring the Piedras crew members to shore.