It took just 27 minutes to rescue two fishermen from an upturned Chatham Islands commercial fishing vessel on Saturday.

The rescue of the two crew on board the 11m Flynny took place 1.8km south of Pitt Island after the fishermen set off their emergency position-indicating radio beacon at around 11.13am.

Two fishermen were rescued from an upturned commercial fishing vessel just off the Pitt Island coast on Saturday. Image: Wikipedia

Another local fishing boat, the Eclipse, was directed to the scene by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand and arrived to find the two men sitting on the upturned hull. They were reported safely aboard at 11.40am.

RCCNZ Search and Rescue mission coordinator Chris Wilson says the area is known locally as a blackspot for VHF radio and the beacon signal was essential to raise the alarm.

'The skipper and crew of the Eclipse have done a great job to get there so quickly and get the men to safety,” says Chris.

'It's obviously not a great morning for the crew of the Flynny but without the EPIRB it could have been a lot worse.”

Following the recue the vessel was righted and towed to shore. At this stage it is not known what caused the vessel to capsize.

Sailor Paul Christenson knows the value of emergency position-indicating radio beacon after he was rescued by Coastguard northeast of Mayor Island in August. File Photo.