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All five rescued after fishing vessel sank in gale force winds

The "Østbanken" with a crew of five on board sank in the morning of Jan 9, 2015, off the Norwegian coast. An SAR operation was launched, and the whole crew was picked up by a by a Seaking helicopter of the 330 Squadron. The "Østbanken" had informed Vardø radio about a water ingress at 3.30 a.m. At 3.35 they sent a mayday call from a position 60 nautical miles NE of Båtsfjord. A Sea King from Banak, a Bristows helicopter from Hammerfest with a thermal camera, the lifeboat "Reidar von Koss from "Båtsfjord" and the patrol vessels "Nordkapp", "Andenes" and "Farm" were alerted. Also three Russian ships responded to the distress call. The contact got lost at 5 a.m., and at 5.15 a.m. the vessel sank 60 nautical miles from Båtsfjord. The helicopter from Banak observed two rafts at 5.44 a.m., and at 6.03 a.m. all castaways were hoisted to safety and flown to hospital in Hammerfest where they were delivered at 7.35 a.m. They were reported to be in good condition. They had been able to swim to the life rafts, one of them being without a survival suit, as the ship had gone down too fast. While all other untis returned, the "Andenes" continued towards the sinking site to recover the liferafts. Norwegian reports with photos: http://www.nrk.no/nordnytt/fem-fiskere-funnet-_-fiskebat-forliste-i-barentshavet-1.12139835 http://www.dagbladet.no/2015/01/09/nyheter/innenriks/forlis/37085518/