“So far, 11 people have been rescued alive and three have been found lifeless,” the maritime authority said in a statement.

“Search operations for the three missing people are underway.”

Port captain Pedro Cervaens Costa told reporters most of the crew members were Portuguese.

Two Indonesian nationals were among those rescued alive.

Authorities were alerted to the incident at around 4.30am local time and emergency services were deployed.

Aurelio Ferreira, mayor of the central Portuguese municipality of Marinha Grande, said the fishing boat was about 2km from the coast and divers would be deployed to find those missing.

Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he was deeply saddened by what happened and that “the loss of the lives of these brave men was a tragedy for all”.