A TEENAGE ship's captain, whose quick thinking helped save four lives, has been recognised at a national awards ceremony.

In February of this year, Jake Bowman-Davies, from Neyland, struggled for two hours to save his family fishing boat after it started taking on water, before making the heartbreaking decision to abandon ship.

He has now been commended for his for courage and determination by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society.

But Jake, now 17, was unable to collect his award from the charity at London's Fishmongers' Hall today (Wednesday), because he was back at sea.

Since losing the 15-metre Cesca, Jake’s family has gone on to buy two boats, and Jake has got stuck back into life on the waves.

Asked how he feels about the incident now, Jake said “It’s just something that happens when you’re a fisherman, just another day really.”

But despite his modesty, Jake says his parents are incredibly proud of him receiving the award.

“They’re really happy for me,” he said.

Jake, who qualified as a skipper aged just 16, was praised by emergency services for his calm handling of a potentially fatal situation.

HM Coastguard's Robert Bowyer said at the time: “It’s often a difficult judgement call for any captain to call for assistance and even more difficult to leave his vessel, which is his livelihood.

"By calling for assistance when he did the captain of the ‘Cesca’ gave the rescue services time to get on scene and try and save his vessel."

Asked how he kept his cool, Jake said at the time: “I just knew if I kept calm it would be better.

“You realise what you’re doing and what they’ve told you in training just kicks in.”

Sir Ben Ainslie, who holds the title of most successful sailor in Olympic history and who has first-hand experience of how volatile the sea can be, described Jake's feat as "impressive".

The Shipwrecked Mariners' Society has been giving awards for skill and gallantry at sea since 1851.