The Spanish captain of a fishing boat involved in a dramatic rescue last month off St Kilda has been praised by accident investigators.

The efforts the unnamed skipper made in looking after his 14-strong crew in the face of life-threatening conditions have been commended by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).

The rescue took place on February 1 as gale-force winds lashed the Scottish coast. The Stornoway coastguard helicopter arrived after the vessel, the Spinningdale, became stranded on rocks.

At first it was unable to attempt to rescue the men because of the dangerous conditions and the cliffs in the vicinity of the boat.

However, the Spanish crewmen were eventually picked up from the stricken vessel.

During the rescue operation the helicopter winchman was forced to cling to the trawler with waves crashing over him as he attempted to get to the crew.

Despite the storm conditions, the 14 men were safely removed from the Spinningdale and flown to hospital in Stornoway, with four suffering from hypothermia and one with a broken finger.

The preliminary report from the MAIB into the incident, published yesterday, describes how the Fleetwood-registered fishing boat sought shelter from the storm winds lashing the west.

"Spinningdale's main engine stopped at a critical time while she was sheltering from severe weather conditions in the lee of St Kilda. Tidal effects and violent changes in wind direction caused the vessel to drift on to rocks soon after losing power.

"Alerts transmitted by the stricken vessel's skipper were picked up by coastguards who immediately put in place a full-scale search and rescue mission involving helicopters and a lifeboat.

An initial attempt by the helicopter to rescue the crew had to be aborted due to the extreme weather conditions. However, all 14 crewmen were airlifted to safety after three hours sheltering in the vessel's wheelhouse."

The Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents has now written to the vessel's owners, Burlort Ltd of Milford Haven, "commending Spinningdale's skipper for ensuring his crew members' safety, and maintaining their morale while awaiting rescue".

He has also advised the owners to consider supplying their crews with immersion suits for use in such extreme conditions, even though there is no statutory requirement to do so.

As a result of the inci- dent, eight tonnes of fuel oil threatened some pollution but St Kilda's owner, the National Trust for Scotland, was also concerned rats which had got on to the Spinningdale would infest the island, which is home to an estimated 750,000 seabirds, many of which nest on the ground.

There were fears that if just one pregnant rat got ashore it would pose a very real threat to the Unesco- designated World Heritage Site.

The NTS dispatched its National Species Recovery Officer and his staff to check for rats. None was ever found.