Four men from interstate were rescued from a sinking yacht by a fishing vessel about 4 nautical miles south east of Grassy Harbour on King Island in the early hours of this morning.

Acting Inspector Darren Woolley, of the Queenstown Division, said that the 48 foot Beneteau yacht reported steering failure and requested assistance from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority about 2am, which sent fixed air wing and two helicopters from Victoria and requested assistance from Tasmania Police.

A local fishing operator who was heading out fishing volunteered his services to rescue the four people from the vessel, which had started to take on some water, and reached them about 5.30am.

Acting Inspector Woolley thanked the local operator of the fishing vessel who came to the yacht’s rescue.

“The fishing vessel operator picked up the people on board, and transported them back to shore about 7am, where police assisted the crew from the yacht ashore and provided them with transport to Currie and made arrangements for accommodation, clothing and communication with families,” he said.

“None of the crew required any medical treatment.”

Acting Inspector Woolley said that police ascertained that the vessel hit a reef on the outer break wall of Grassy Harbour on leaving the harbour sometime after midnight.

“The skipper and crew made a decision to continue on as they believed there was no damage to the vessel. About 2 nautical miles from the harbour they experienced their first trouble with steering and shortly after made the call to AMSA. They later upgraded their distress call as they discovered that the vessel was taking on water.”

One of the men is from Victoria, with the remaining three men residing in Western Australia.

The yacht sunk in about 45 metres of water about 10am today and is not considered to be a navigational hazard. The vessel, valued at least $600,000, is not able to be salvaged and a sea safety message has been sent out to mariners.