Two children and two adults were rescued after their fishing boat began taking on water off the Illawarra coastline on the weekend.
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An emergency call was made by the boat's skipper at 8am on Saturday, with the six-metre runabout located around six nautical miles (11 kilometres) off Scarborough.
The skipper told emergency crews they were unable to keep up with bailing water out of the vessel.
Marine Rescue NSW crews were deployed to help as the situation deteriorated.
Upon reaching the distressed vessel, the children were relocated to the Marine Rescue boat, while the adults remained on the at-risk runabout
"Port Kembla 31 shadowed the distressed vessel back to the harbour in case the water ingress situation escalated," Marine Rescue NSW Inspector Stuart Massey said.
The group were reunited at Bellambi Harbour.
Lloyd, the skipper of the distressed vessel, praised emergency crews for their help.
"All safe and secured by Marine Rescue Port Kembla, they all got us back on land so a big thumbs up to you guys," he said.
Inspector Massey said the vessel's skipper did everything correctly, but warned things can happen unexpectedly in the offshore environment.
"[The] incident off the Illawarra coast had a great outcome, but situations like these can turn quickly into life-threatening emergencies," Inspector Massey said.
"We advise boaters to contact Marine Rescue NSW immediately via VHF channel 16 or mobile phone if their vessel starts taking on water."
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