A boat that ran aground on rocks off East Sussex on Tuesday evening sank in the early hours of Wednesday. HM Coastguard Bexhill and Hastings teams initially responded to multiple 999 calls reporting a vessel "listing heavily close to the shoreline" off Hastings.
Coastguard members waded out to the white sloop and found a single occupant. After welfare checks, the person, identified as the skipper by a coastguard spokesperson, chose to remain on board overnight with the intention of refloating the boat on the morning high tide.
However, at 01:24 BST on Wednesday, the situation deteriorated, and the vessel began to sink. The skipper had safely abandoned the boat and swum ashore before coastguard teams were recalled to the scene. The coastguard then obtained details of the vessel's contents to check for any hazardous materials.