A marine search and rescue operation was launched at 3am this morning to rescue two fishermen in distress near Motiti Island, about 24 kilometres off the coast of Mount Maunganui.

Coastguard patrol members say the situation could have been a lot more serious when a commercial boat with two men onboard started taking on water.
A distress signal was sent out by the men onboard the 60 foot long commercial trawler, Trinity, owned by fishing company Moana Pacific.
Tauranga Coast Guard operations manager Simon Barker says they managed to stabilise the trawler by using a water pump to draw water out of the boat.
'When we got there the boat was in about 25 metres of water. We believe water was coming in through a hole below the waterline. Without the pump, it would have been a bit more serious,” says Simon.
Coast Guard left the water pump onboard the trawler and allowed it to independently travel back to shore at a speed of about eight to nine knots.
'It took about an hour and half for it to get back into shore. We accompanied the boat just to be on the safe side,” says Simon.
The boat was brought back to Tauranga where pumping to draw the water out of the trawler continued.
None of the fishermen sustained any injuries.