The skipper of a 23 foot motor boat Wassini used his mobile phone to warn coastguards he could not bale out fast enough to stem the flow of a leak.

They broadcast a mayday and the warship HMS Kent steamed towards Skomer Island off Milford Haven. They launched two ribs and helped with the baling until the St David’s Lifeboat turned up and took over.

Coastguard watch manager Mark Harrington said : ‘ Our concerns remain that further means of communication other than just mobile phones are carried on board.’