Water Resuces in Wellington District, 7:00pm 20 Nov 2008

Police in the Wellington and Wairarapa area were involved in two separate water rescues this afternoon.
The first one involved a 13metre launch that caught fire with two people on board. A 'May Day' call was received from the vessel at about 3.30pm as the boat lay 1.5 nautical miles offshore from Honeycomb rock on the east coast.
Initially the skipper and one crew member were going to abandon the vessel but were able to get the fire under control despite heavy smoke. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was dispatched in the event the crew had to be winched from the vessel.
Another vessel was diverted to the area and placed the crippled one under tow and towed it to safety.
In the second incident the Wellington Police Launch Lady Elizabeth III went to the aid of a boat with a flat battery. There were 5 people on board the 8.5metre boat which was towed back to the Seaview Marina by the Police Launch. There were no reports of injury in either incident.