Volunteers in 18 hour North Sea rescue mission

Volunteers from Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station have been at sea all day in an ongoing dramatic rescue mission, after a fishing boat started taking on water 110 miles off the North East coast - the furthest out to sea that the rescue crew has ever worked.

The alarm was raised at 6am today (Tuesday) by the lone skipper of the Louise Thomsen, a decommissioned Danish trawler which he was sailing from Denmark to Sunderland.

Humber Coastguard was contacted and a rescue helicopter flew to the scene.

The helicopter crew lowered their winchman down with a pump which was used to keep the boat afloat.

Tynemouth's all weather lifeboat was then launched at 9.30am and the boat with six crew embarked on the longest distance mission they had ever carried out.

Four and a half hours after steaming at maximum speed (25 knots or nearly 30 mph) the lifeboat reached the position where the Louise Thomsen was expected to be, but found no trace of her.

There was another air-search and the vessel was located over 30 miles south of where they expected her.

The lifeboat crew set off again, reaching her shortly before 4pm.

Although the vessel was still capable of moving under her own power it was decided it would be best to tow the Louise Thomsen back to safety in Sunderland harbour, and the rescue crew is expected to arrive back at around 3am - almost 18 hours after they launched.

It will then take over an hour to return to the Tyne, refuel the lifeboat and make her ready for service again.