Five crewmen have been rescued after an Irish registered fishing boat sank off the coast of Scotland today.

The Irish vessel the "Iúda Naofa" got into difficulty at 11 o’clock this morning when it started taking on water about 48 miles off the Isle of Lewis.

Stornoway Coastguard helicopter airlifted two crewmen to a nearby trawler, the Star of Hope, and three others were airlifted to hospital, where they're being treated for hypothermia..

Four of those rescued are from the Aran Islands, while the fifth crew member is Romanian.

A statement from the Maitime & Coastguard Agency said:

“The Coastguard was notified of a fishing vessel in distress just before 11am this morning. The Iuda Naofa, a 23m Irish fishing vessel, was taking on water 48 miles north of the Butt of Lewis.

“The Coastguard Rescue helicopter was requested to attend the scene and drop a salvage pump onto the Iuda Naofa to pump off the ingress of water. However, the vessel became swamped and started to sink.”

Coastguard Duty Watch Manager, Paul Tunstall said

“The weather conditions on scene were very rough seas with southerly force 6 winds, evacuating the five crew swiftly and safely before the vessel went down was a great achievement.”