Six fishermen were rescued after their Fraserburgh-registered boat ‘Resilient’ began taking in water 37 miles south off Sumburgh Head, Shetland around 4pm on 10 February 2001 and sank.

Three of the men were rescued by the ship's sister vessel ‘Utility’ and the remaining three initially stayed on board but were unable to control the rise of water in the fish room.

They eventually took to life rafts and were picked up by Coastguard rescue helicopter and airlifted to Lerwick.

Following story by Linda Summerhayes and Jamie Buchan of the Press & Journal
The skipper of the Fraserburgh-registered ‘Resilient’ was devastated at the loss of his vessel which capsized and sank just before a salvage team arrived on the scene.
 
Six fishermen, including skipper Ian Thompson, of Fraserburgh, were on board the ‘Resilient’ when the fish-room began to flood, causing the 26-metre vessel to list dangerously.
 
A Coastguard helicopter from Sumburgh was scrambled but the team was unable to supply water-pumping equipment to the Resilient as the only pumps available to the crew were on board the Polaris when she sank just 32 miles away just days earlier.

Three fishermen, including Mr Thompson, were airlifted to safety and the remaining crewmembers abandoned ship using liferafts and were picked up by the nearby ‘Utility’, also registered at Fraserburgh.

The crew on board the ‘Utility’, which was heading to Peterhead last night, made several attempts to return to the ‘Resilient’ with pumping equipment but she eventually sank at 2.30pm yesterday.  Mr Thompson and a salvage team were aboard the fishery protection vessel Sulisker, only 18 miles away from the position, when the Resilient eventually capsized.

A spokesman for Shetland Coastguard said: "There was just too much water over her bow.  To get so close and still lose her, the skipper is just devastated."

The Fishermen's Mission at Lerwick fed and clothed the crew who were airlifted on Saturday night. They were interviewed by the police but were too shocked to speak publicly about the incident.

Mission superintendent Neil McGregor said Mr Thompson, who has a heart condition, was particularly traumatised.

Just a day before disaster struck the ‘Resilient’, the crew of the Polaris battled in vain to save their sinking trawler.