Port St Mary lifeboat crew rescue family of three from boat with engine failure
At 4.25 pm this afternoon (Thursday 5 July) Belfast coastguard received a call from the owner of an 18 foot motor boat which had suffered engine failure about 400 yards behind Port St Mary breakwater .
Conditions were described as clear with a light northerly breeze.
At the time the Port St Mary all weather lifeboat Gough Ritchie with its volunteer crew were on exercise at Langness about two miles away . They quickly abandoned the exercise and sped to the casualty. On hearing the radio call for assistance a diving boat, the Kirree Varrey, skippered by Mike Keggen, a Port St Mary coxswain, and his son Tom who is also lifeboat crew, sped to the scene and took the vessel in tow until the lifeboat arrived .
The Gough Ritchie then towed the small vessel with its crew of two adults and one child, safely back to port arriving just after 5 pm. The lifeboat then returned to Langness to complete the man overboard training exercise.
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