Six mariners were stranded for 14 hours in shark-infested waters after their fishing boat struck a 110-foot rope.

The hull was badly holed when the thick rope wound itself around the vessel's struts and propellers.

Capt. Jeff Donahue braved the sharks by diving into 15,000 feet water to inspect the damage.

But there was nothing the crew could do ? except wait until Bermuda's tug boat came to the rescue.

The drama occurred some 62 miles out to sea while the fishing boat was returning to Morgan City, North Carolina from a big game classic fishing tournament.

It was about 5.30 p.m. on Monday night when , travelling at ten knots, hit what turned out to be a 110 foot rope commonly used on large ships.

The rope was three and half-inches in diameter and wound itself around the vessel's struts and propellers.

Capt. Donahue said the propellers tightened the rope, causing the struts to be ripped out from under the hull which left two holes, one large enough to stick a fist through.

"We got the rope out, thinking it was just that, but by the time we got it out of the water, all the alarms on the boat went off," he said.

But the crew never panicked.

"We all went down into the engine room which was already flooded with about two feet of water."

The crew emptied out the room and found the two holes.

"Thanks to a calm crew and good friends who stayed level headed, we fell into our positions and got the pumps going. Thank God we were able to get it stopped enough for the pumps to keep up and saved the boat, and ourselves from having to go into a life raft," he said.

He said they were in 15,000 feet of water with sharks all around more than 500 miles from the United States and he hated to think of what would have happened to them.

The sharks were a constant worry, he said, especially when he had to get into the water.

"We could have drifted for days," he said.

He said he was unable to get Harbour Radio on the vessel's radio because they were too far off shore, so he called Customs on his set-phone.

"I got Michael Dill in customs and he called Harbour Radio who secured a tug for our rescue within three and a half hours," he said.

He said the reached them at about 8.30 on Tuesday morning ? "a welcome sight".

"We kept a watch over the pumps throughout the night," he said, adding that the crew did sleep in shifts.

The was towed into the Shell Dock on Wednesday at 2 a.m. Its crew were relieved to be back on dry land.

Capt. Donahue said his crew were incredibly thankful to everyone in Bermuda who went out of their way to help them.

He added that the crew of the were very professional, courteous, concerned and brave.

"Everyone here has opened their hearts and doors to us. It's beyond compare and the Government should be proud of the people they have in Marine and Ports," he said.

While Capt. Donahue and Kipp Holliday are full-time crew on the , Capt. Joey Johnson, Captain Mike Thompson, Chuck Bostwick and Larry Land made up the rest of the crew for this particular tournament in Bermuda. Thec rew of the are Captain Roy K. Todd, engineer Mark Gibbons, bosun/mates Odwin Berkeley and Troy Hewey, engine driver Dennis Martin, navigator Willard Raynor and leading seamen, Anthony Thompson, Steward Card, Kareem Hollis.captain Todd, who is normally captain of the said the rescue went very well and bosun/mate "Mickey" Berkeley, who is also a diver, spent almost 50 minutes in the water securing the propellers so that they did not spin during towing.

Capt. Todd said the risk of thesinking was "very real" and if they had been going faster, they could have ripped the bottom of the hull out and sank within minutes.

He said these ropes are washed off ships all the time in bad weather and posed a danger to all ships.