A lone fisherman plucked from a lift raft floating off the West Coast is lucky to be alive, the Rescue Co-ordination Centre says.
The man was rescued from a vessel which was 19km off Cape Foulwind on the West Coast Photo: JLL
The centre received a distress beacon alert from a vessel which was on fire about 19 kilometres off Cape Foulwind, near Westport, about 11am today.
The Greymouth Search and Rescue helicopter was dispatched and airlifted the man from his life raft.
The centre's senior search and rescue officer Geoff Lunt said the beacon allowed for a swift response and the man's successful rescue.
"The satellite detected the beacon at 11am this morning and RCCNZ received the alert at 11.06am," he said.
"If he hadn't had his distress beacon he may still be out there now.
"We don't know what communications he had on the fishing vessel, or if he had time to use the radio to make a distress call. The beacon allowed for a swift response and a successful rescue."
Float-free EPIRB distress beacons that can activate automatically became compulsory on commercial fishing vessels from 1 January 2019. This requirement applies to those vessels between 7.5 metres and 24 metres operating outside enclosed waters.