Breakfast Prawns for RNLI Kinghorn Lifeboat
Kinghorn RNLI Lifeboat crew were called from their beds at 03.35am on Thursday morning after a fishing boat broke down three miles north of Aberlady Bay, East Lothian.
The 32’ trawler, Fortune II, was fishing in the Firth of Forth when it suffered engine failure. The skipper called Forth Coastguard who immediately requested the launch of Kinghorn Lifeboat to offer assistance. There was person onboard the vessel.
Kinghorn Lifeboat launched at 03.55am and arrived on scene some 30 minutes later. The Fortune II was taken in tow back to Port Seton where the vessel was currently based. It is understood its homeport was South Shields.
Helmsman Scott McIllravie said, “We located the casualty vessel drifting about 2 miles east of the Fairway buoy. Unfortunately the radio on the fishing boat had failed during the incident which made it difficult to communicate.
“The weather on scene was good, with a Force 2/3 westerly wind and only a slight sea.
“We took the vessel under tow back to Port Seton which was approximately 5.5 miles away. Our Atlantic 85 lifeboat performed very well and handled the larger vessel with ease.
“When we arrived at Port Seton there still wasn’t enough water so we handed the tow to a local fishing boat, the Emma Jane who was going to wait until the tide came in enough to enter the harbour.
Scott added, “However, the Fortune II skipper was very happy that we had managed to tow him back to safety and he gave the crew a basket of prawns for their troubles, this was much appreciated by us all.”
The volunteer lifeboat crew then returned to Kinghorn at 05.55am to wash and fuel the lifeboat before heading off to their respective workplaces.
The crew on this shout were Scott McIllravie, Leanne Fisher, Steven Wallace and Melanie McGarva. The lifeboat was launched by tractor driver Steve Brown.
Notes to editors
• Kinghorn lifeboat station has been operating since 1964. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to www.rnli.org.uk/kinghorn
• Helmsman Scott McIllravie is available for interview
• Photograph shows the Emma Jane taking Fortune II in tow.
RNLI media contacts
For more information please telephone Neil Chalmers, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07767 380274 or press.officer@kinghorn.org.uk or Richard Smith on 07786 668903 or at Richard_smith2@rnli.org.uk or contact RNLI Public Relations on 01202 336789
RNLI online
For more information on the RNLI please visit www.rnli.org.uk News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI Press Centre www.rnli.org.uk/press