Man Saved From Drifting Out To Sea

The rescue happened on Tuesday (March 14) morning at 11:00 when the man attempted to chase after another dinghy which had broken from its moorings near to Corporation Quay, South Shields, on the river Tyne almost opposite the lifeboat station.

The Coxswain of Tynemouth lifeboat spotted the man in the 2m dinghy rowing after the similarly sized empty boat in the strong westerly wind and immediately alerted two other lifeboat crew members who were already in the station boarding boat replacing mooring lines.

The crew members raced across the river to the casualty who by now had been blown by the wind past the Groyne light and was heading towards the piers, unable to get to shore. People on the Groyne had also seen his predicament and had dialled 999 to report to UK Coastguard that the man needed help.

The lifeboat crew reached the man just a minute later and he and his boat were quickly tied alongside the lifeboat. The other boat was also recovered and all were taken back to the slipway at the boat angling club where they had come from.

Adrian Don, spokesman for Tynemouth RNLI, said: 'Members of South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade had been tasked to assist on shore by UK Coastguard’s Humber Operations Centre and they gave advice to the man who was wearing no lifejacket or buoyancy aid and had no means of calling for help other than shouting.

'He had acted on instinct to attempt to recover the original boat but had he not been spotted the wind and tide would in all probability have carried him past the piers and out to sea where his situation would have become critically dangerous.

'We'd like to remind anyone going on a boat to be prepared for the worst by at least wearing a lifejacket and having a reliable means of calling for help.'

Ends

For more information: Please contact Adrian Don, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, on 07834 731833 or at [email protected]

Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station was established in 1862 although there have been lifeboats on the river Tyne since the world's first purpose built lifeboat was launched here in 1790. The station has 30 volunteer crew members who come from all walks of life. We operate two lifeboats: The Severn class all weather lifeboat Spirit of Northumberland and our D class inshore lifeboat Mark Noble. You can find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/TynemouthRNLI or follow us on Twitter @TynemouthRNLI.