Three people left clinging to the debris of a boat off the coast of Cape Kidnappers were rescued by emergency services at the weekend.
Senior Sergeant Kevin Stewart, of the Eastern District Command Centre, said police were notified just after 5pm on Saturday that three people were hanging on to what was left of a boat half a kilometre west of Black Reef.
It was reported the boat had been smashed up and the three were hanging on to the debris in what were reasonably choppy waters, he said.
All three were wearing lifejackets, and emergency services were alerted to the incident after several distress calls were made from the boat.
Coastguard Hawke's Bay rescue vessel skipper Henry Van Tuel said they were alerted by police at 5.18pm.