Police have launched an extensive air and sea search for three men missing in waters off Yeppoon, after receiving a triple zero call from one of the men on-board a sinking vessel.

Police received the distress call around 7:20pm last night from a 20-year-old Yeppoon man who said the boat he was on was sinking.

The man managed to provide police with GPS coordinates before the phone call cut out.

Two rescue helicopters, the Yeppoon Coast Guard and nearby commercial fishing boats braved 20-knot south east winds and two-metre swells to search for the men, who are believed to have set out for an over-night fishing trip to Flat Island yesterday.

Police inquiries have established that two Blackwater men aged 25 and 21, whose car and boat trailer was located at the Rosslyn Bay boat ramp were on-board.

The GPS location given to police indicated the vessel - a 5.6 metre white runabout was eight nautical miles south-east of Flat Island, Yeppoon.

The search will continue today with on-going assistance from AusSar and an additional rescue helicopter.