Authorities say two boaters were about three kilometres from the brink of Niagara Falls when they were rescued from their disabled vessel by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.


Coast Guard officials say their Buffalo station received a call around 9:15 p.m. Monday reporting a 19-foot motor boat with two men aboard was anchored in the Niagara River about 2,000 feet inside the 2.5-mile exclusion zone from the falls.


A crew from the Coast Guard air station in Detroit was dispatched to the scene, along with a Coast Guard vessel from Buffalo and boat crews from state and local police.


The river's shallow depth prevented the vessels from reaching the anchored boat. A Coast Guard helicopter rescued the two boaters shortly before midnight.


The boat remains on the river. The owner is arranging salvage with a commercial service company.


Lt. Cmdr. Jason Trichler, pilot of the Coast Guard rescue helicopter said in a press release "the training that we do everyday prepared us for this rescue, and it felt great to successfully get these guys out of a tough, and I am sure, scary situation."


The owner of the vessel will coordinate salvage with a commercial service company Monday.