Cruise ship Pacific Princess rescued three fishermen who were among a crew of five whose boat sank in the North Sea.
The men were found on Saturday evening in a life raft and picked up by the crew of the Princess Cruises’ ship who had seen their distress flare 25 miles out to sea.
The bodies of two other crew members were pulled from the sea off Norfolk the following day.
They were found near the wreckage of their vessel by a coastguard helicopter.
The fishing boat, believed to be from Belgium, sank about 25 miles north-east of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The cause is not yet known.
Teena Dowd, a Canadian passenger on the cruise ship, was reported as saying that the captain made an announcement about the operation. Shortly afterwards the men clambered up the side of the vessel to applause from passengers.
“We were on the very top deck and people were just sort of holding their breath. Everybody was anxious,” she said.
“Because we all at the time thought there were only three of them and everybody clapped when they came on the ship.
“But we didn’t know until a while later, when the captain announced that there were actually two more and we were still searching for them.”
Initially there was concern about the vessel’s ability to help the shipwrecked crew.
First the men were offered a rope then a ladder was lowered to allow them to clamber aboard the vessel, which had been heading to Dover.
One of the fishermen fell into the sea during the rescue attempt but was recovered, The Times reported.
Dowd added: “Originally they didn’t think we were going to be able to rescue them. The captain announced we were just going to float next to them so they were blocked from the wind until the coastguard got here, but then they were able to get close enough that they were able to climb up our ship.”
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said that the three rescued men, all foreign citizens, arrived in Dover on Sunday and would be returned home.