Heaviest ever tow for Yarmouth RNLI lifeboat
This afternoon the RNLI’s All Weather Lifeboat stationed in Yarmouth was tasked with assisting a large survey vessel which had experienced a full power failure off Lymington.
Volunteer crew members were paged by the Coastguard just after midday and by 12.22pm the lifeboat had arrived alongside the stricken craft – an 88ft trimaran which had suffered a complete failure of its electrical control unit.
The powerless vessel was anchored securely but in danger of running aground with the ebbing tide. To remedy the situation, the lifeboat crew cut the anchor line and marked the anchor with a buoy for future recovery before establishing a tow line by which the trimaran was towed into Lymington harbour.
At 10.5 metres in width and weighing 105 tonnes, this is believed to have been the largest and heaviest tow ever carried out by the Yarmouth lifeboat; a great deal of skill was required for the lifeboat coxswain to manoeuvre in the confined waters of the harbour with such a large vessel alongside.
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• Claire Hallett, Yarmouth RNLI Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer 07814 900398 / [email protected]
• Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East) 0207 6207426 / 07785 296252 / [email protected]
• For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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