Littlehampton RNLI tasked to a Mayday call from vessel on fire
Both Littlehampton lifeboats were out on training exercises on Sunday morning (17 September), when the VHF mayday call was received.
The station's Atlantic 85 Renée Sherman responded to the call from a small leisure craft, with two people on board. The crew of the casualty vessel reported they were half mile south of harbour entrance and that their engine was on fire.
The lifeboat and volunteer crew were only thirty metres from the casualty and were on scene very quickly, where the crew isolated the fuel and battery and extinguished the engine fire. A tow line was rigged to the casualty and the lifeboat towed it back to the lifeboat slipway. The lifeboat returned to its training exercises at 10.00am
A RNLI spokesman said: 'It was good to attend a ‘shout’ where the boat was properly equipped with a VHF radio and the crew knew how to use it and also they were wearing lifejackets, which isn’t always the case'.
RNLI media contacts
- Ray Pye, Littlehampton RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer / 07854 074688, email [email protected]
- Tim Ash, RNLI Public Relations Manager (London/East/South East) on 0207 6207426, 07785 296252 email [email protected]
- Paul Dunt, RNLI Press Officer (London/East/South East) on 0207 620 7416, 07786 668825 email [email protected]
- For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789 email [email protected]
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