The Coast Guard rescued three people last night from a Point Judith-based fishing boat that took on water about 180 miles southeast of Cape Cod.

A sailing vessel, the ING Coffer, overheard distress calls at about 8:30 p.m. from the 82-foot Dona Maria and radioed the information to the Coast Guard station in Portland, Maine, and the Canadian Coast Guard station in Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to Petty Officer Etta Smith, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard’s First District headquarters in Boston.

The Coast Guard instructed the Dona Maria’s crew to activate their emergency radio beacon so the boat’s location could be tracked. The Coast Guard sent a Falcon jet and a Jayhawk rescue helicopter from Boston to the scene, with the jet arriving first and loitering until the helicopter, after flying into headwinds, arrived at about 8:30 p.m. The fishing vessel was floating and upright, but had taken on water, Smith said.

The boat’s crew had abandoned ship and was hoisted from their life raft into the helicopter, Smith said. The three, whom the Coast Guard could not immediately identify last night, were taken to the Coast Guard’s Cape Cod station and were reported in good condition.

mwims@projo.com