AN injured fisherman was taken to hospital last Tuesday after being evacuated from his boat by Falmouth's offshore lifeboat the Richard Cox Scott.

Agents Tamlyn Shipping contacted Falmouth Coastguard during the morning requesting medical assistance on behalf of the MFV Atlantic Dawn.

The vessel reported having an injured crewman onboard and was diverting to Falmouth after a doctor advised medical evacuation of the man.

The lifeboat rendezvoused with the fishing boat about eight miles south of Falmouth. The RNLI's Mark Pollard and Dave Nicoll were transferred to assess the man's condition, while the vessel continued to head into Falmouth Bay. The injured crewman was found to be suffering from severe back pains. He was given Entonox gas to relieve the pain, before being placed on a stretcher. Once on deck he was transferred to the lifeboat using one of the vessel's HIAB cranes.

The lifeboat, with coxswain Alan Barnes and crew Peter Wood, Alan Rowe, Alistair Heane, Mark Pollard and Dave Nicoll, then headed back to its pontoon berth where an ambulance was waiting to take the man to Treliske Hospital, Truro.

The four-year-old Irish registered MFV Atlantic Dawn is the world largest fishing vessel, being 145 metres in length, with a beam of 24 metres, and weighing in at 14,055 gross tonnes. She was built in Norway in 2000 at a cost of £50 million. She has a crew of 60 and can catch, process and hold up to 7,000 tonnes of fish.