THREE tragedies in treacherous waters off Portland is taking its toll' on coastguards, their boss has revealed.

In just three weeks, 14-year-old schoolboy Kyle Moore, 20-year-old fisherman Peter Lynham and 45-year-old Scottish skipper John Bowman have all gone missing in rough seas.

Red-eyed and tired coastguards putting in overtime have clung to the hope they might find one alive - but all three are now feared drowned.

Mark Rodaway, duty senior coastguard officer for southern England, said: "We have a team that's dedicated to search and rescue and committed to saving lives at sea.

"When you get a spate of incidents where you don't get the result you want it does have an impact.

"This is the second incident this week and a successful outcome is looking less and less likely.

"My staff of 24 and myself have been involved in the search, helicopter Whiskey Bravo and coastguards at Wyke and Portland searching the shore.

"HMS Portland has had some input again on this search. There have been hundreds of people looking.

"It's extremely disheartening when you don't get a result and it does take its toll. But everyone involved has remained incredibly professional."

The latest alert was sparked at 6.13pm on Wednesday when the Scottish fishing vessel Unity sank within half a mile of Portland.

Two crew members, Fergus Middleton, 19, and Graeme Hughes, 20, were rescued from a life raft by the Weymouth RNLI lifeboat, but skipper Mr Bowman still remains missing.

Mr Rodway said Mr Middleton and Mr Hughes had told him there had been a sudden ingress of water to the boat which caused it to capsize within seconds - not minutes'.

He said: "At the moment there is no indication what caused it but as soon as this happens a boat becomes unstable very quickly."

Phil Daniels, project manager with QinetiQ Maritime Electronic Warfare and Magnetic Range at Portland Bill, spotted a flare launched by the fishermen rescued from the life raft.

He said: "We were just closing down for the night - just after six. We had just switched off all the lights when we saw it. I reckon they probably waited for us to switch the lights off so it would been seen.

"It wasn't there for very long - maybe five ten seconds - and it wasn't that far out either.

"It wasn't a case of thinking oh no, not another one going down'. We didn't really think like that. You just act on instinct.

"The coastguard turned up very quickly and as they did the fishermen set off their last remaining flare."

The crew normally fish out of Pittenweem in Fife.

James Bruce, harbourmaster at Pittenweem Harbour, said: "It's not that usual for fishermen to go down as far as Dorset.

"I understand the skipper had only been down there in the last few weeks because the fishing had been so poor here."

Billy Hughes, of the Fishermen's Mutual Association in Pittenweem, said: "The majority of fishermen are fishing at home, mainly for langoustine.

"From what I understand this particular gentlemen was trying to catch cuttlefish, which can be lucrative.

"I understand that he took his boat down on the back of a lorry. He didn't take it by water."

Three Royal Navy warships took part in the search for missing Portland fisherman Peter Lynham earlier in the week - HMS Quorn, HMS Tyne and HMS Portland.

HMS Portland Warrant Officer Colin Parton said: "We had to curtail a trial to assist in the search.

"Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. It just goes to show the power of the sea.

"We were on the task very quickly and in the company of HMS Tyne and a single-role mine hunter with the lifeboat and several other local boats, and even with two helicopters we were unable to locate him.

"I was so proud of my ship's company. We tried to split the lookouts into watches but no one would go below, so we had 166 pairs of eyes looking out until long after dark when the coastguard ended the search.

"We did everything we possibly could to facilitate the fisherman's rescue and he and his family are in our thoughts and prayers."