Two visitors had to be rescued yesterday after their rental boat developed engine trouble and they were left drifting two miles offshore.

Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre was alerted to the problem at 6.30 p.m by staff at Pompano Beach Club in Southampton, where the boaters were staying.

A spokesman explained: "They said two guests had not returned from an excursion in a rental boat. A few seconds later a few of the guests reported a flare off Pompano Beach."

The operations centre broadcast a message to other shipping traffic and found out that the guests had rented a 13ft Boston Whaler from Somerset Bridge Watersports. They contacted the company who sent someone out on a jetski to look for the missing boat.

"They found it off Pompano Beach. The guests had fired a hand-flare to get the attention of the people at Pompano Beach and they were towed back to the dock," said the spokesman.

The search operation only took 20 minutes, according to the spokesman, and the boaters were uninjured.