A DOCTOR has described the dramatic moment a man risked his own life to save a colleague trapped inside a capsized tug.

Dr William King, who was aboard one of four lifeboats sent to the incident in Southampton Water, said it was “pure luck” the Solent Towage Ltd employee saw the trapped sailor.

The Southampton-based company owned and operated the Asterix, the tug at the centre of the drama on Monday evening.

An employee was standing on the jetty at Fawley oil refinery when the submerged tug tilted, exposing one of the wheelhouse windows.

Dr King, a consultant radiologist at St Mary's Hospital, Newport, said: “The window came out of the water and he saw a hand. He knew he had to jump into the water and get the guy out.

“He used a heavy metal object to smash the window and grab the person inside. Shortly afterwards the tug sank.

“He certainly saved this guy's life.”

Dr King, a 36-year-old father of two, described the unnamed employee as “the hero of the night”.

He and the man he saved were both taken to a portable building, where they changed into dry clothes. The crewman rescued from the tug was “severely hypothermic” and was given oxygen before being taken to hospital.

A Fawley refinery spokesman said the Solent Towage employee was lowered into the water on a rope and then made his way to the tug.

A MAN risked his own life to jump into Southampton Water to save his colleague after a tug boat capsized last night.

The tug went down near Fawley Refinery in windy conditions last night and a dramatic rescue mission was launched to find the two men on board.

And while one man was picked from the water, another was trapped in the wheelhouse of the stricken vessel.

Seeing his colleague trapped inside, another refinery employee jumped onto the boat, smashed the window and dragged his colleague out and into the water.

They were then rescued by an RNLI lifeboat crew.

Local RNLI and Coastguard teams were told of the incident at just after 8.10pm last night.

A variety of vessels, including the Calshot RNLI lifeboat Max Walls, Solent Coastguard vessels, the Southampton Port patrol boat and Red Funnel ferries, rushed to the scene to help with the search.

Paramedics and fire crews were also called to the scene near the refinery.

One of the tug's crew had been on its deck and was able to jump into the water, but the rescue operation intensified after the second man could not be found.

After his colleague jumped onto the vessel to save him, three RNLI crew members went ashore with the second crew member to give him casualty care.

He was then taken to Southampton General Hospital.

A spokesman for ExxonMobil, which runs the refinery, said: "We can confirm that at approximately 20:10 hours on Monday 30th March, our onsite resources together with the emergency services, responded to an incident involving a small shipping support vessel in Southampton Water.

"All persons have been accounted for.