Two men escaped the burning Mávanes, their seven-ton fishing boat, after its engine caught fire around 7 pm last night. The boat quickly became ablaze and sank into Faxaflói bay one hour later.
TF-LÍF, a Coast Guard helicopter, was called to the scene, but turned around after it became clear that the two fishermen were safe, Morgunbladid reports.
The two men had managed to blow up a life rafter and after about 30 minutes they were brought onboard another boat, Sólborg, which then sailed straight to the Reykjavík harbor.
Captain of Sólborg, Stefán Thormar, said they had tried to save Mávanes but concluded that it was impossible to tow it to shore. It sank shortly afterwards. It is unclear why the engine caught fire.
