A Coast Guard ship rescued five people from a fishing boat early Sunday morning after they reported the vessel was sinking 16 nautical miles, or about 30 kilometres, off the coast of Yarmouth, N.S.

A spokesman for Joint Task Force Atlantic says the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax received a mayday distress call from the Jill Marie around 11:30 Saturday night.

Cpt. Cameron Hillier says JRCC Halifax dispatched a Cormorant helicopter and a Hercules aircraft from 14-wing Greenwood to help with the rescue efforts. He says the group was reported safe and sound at around 1:30 a.m.

"Fortunately, the Coast Guard ship Spray got on scene and was able to take all five members safely aboard," said Hillier. "All five are safe and uninjured."

Stephen Bornais, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, says when the crew of the Spray arrived the fishing vessel was taking on water and the boat eventually sank about 25 kilometres south of Westport, N.S.

He says the five people on board were taken to the Meteghan wharf.

The Coast Guard's environmental response branch will be monitoring the ship that sank as it could be a risk to pollute the area.