Boat flips off Tweed Heads, beacon triggers dramatic rescue

TWO men have been rescued after their boat overturned about five nautical miles off Point Danger this afternoon.

Marine Rescue Point Danger was already assisting another vessel when the emergency beacon was activated just after 1pm on Friday, July 11.

Marine Rescue NSW Inspector Steve Raymond said radio operators helped direct the crew to the beacon’s location, where they found two men in the water.

“The EPIRB had been activated by the crew of a vessel that had overturned offshore,” he said.

“The two males from that vessel were successfully retrieved from the water.”

NSW Water Police and NSW Maritime also responded.

Marine Rescue was later tasked with retrieving the vessel, but crews found only debris and believe the boat has sunk.

“This incident highlights the importance of boaters carrying an EPIRB on board – it is a life-saving piece of equipment, and this afternoon it did just that: it saved two lives,” Inspector Raymond said.