The 45ft ferrocement Amberstaire, on passage from Burnham on Crouch to Whitehaven, was lost on Saturday night 30 miles south of Plymouth.

At around 1815 the crew of three heard a loud bang and the engine stopped. The crew suspected a fouled propeller and could not see any damage externally but then discovered that the engine space was flooding rapidly. A Maydall call was made just before 1900.

Brixham Coastguard scrambled a rescue helicopter and Plymouth lifeboat; the warship HMS Iron Duke, the tanker Mersey Fisher and the container vessel P & O Nedlloyd Marseilles all responded to the relayed call for assistance.

All crew were winched off the Amberstaire at 1938 and the ketch sank just four minutes later. They were taken to a landing site in Cornwall where the Penzance Coastguard Rescue Team met them and took them to the Fishermen’s Mission in Newlyn for the night.

“The weather on scene at the time of the accident was quite good, with a westerly Force 5, a moderate sea and good visibility,” stated Dave Scullion, Brixham Coastguard Watch Manager. There appears to be no obvious item that the vessel hit yesterday evening but the force of the collision clearly had a fatal effect on the vessel and we would remind sea farers to be extra vigilant when keeping watch for large items of debris in the water.”