Barrow Lifeboat called to assist crew of sinking yacht in the East Irish Sea
Volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station launched their all weather lifeboat today, Thursday 21st June 2018, to go to the aid of the crew of a trimaran which had issued a Mayday distress call.
The call for assistance came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead at 9-52am. The information received was that a 26-foot trimaran with two crew on board was sinking. The location of the stricken vessel was given as approximately 12 miles west south-west of Walney Island. The lifeboat crew was paged and the all weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was launched at 10-03am under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, assisted by a crew of six. A further four volunteer crew members responded to the call-out.
The distress call from the trimaran had also alerted other vessels in the area with up to seven vessels standing by at one stage. The lifeboat proceeded to the scene and the Coastguard Helicopter, Rescue 936, was also tasked to attend. In the meantime, a guard vessel working at the offshore windfarms off Walney Island, the ‘Fairline Surveyor’, was able to get close enough to the sinking vessel and retrieve the two crew of the trimaran from the water. The casualties were then assessed on board the ‘Fairline Surveyor’ and both were uninjured. They were then airlifted from the vessel to Walney Airfield by Rescue 936 which was deemed to be safer than attempting to transfer the casualties to the lifeboat in the difficult sea conditions.
Furness Coastguard was called to attend at Walney Airfield where they collected the two casualties and took them to the Lifeboat Station. The crew of the lifeboat were then able to reunite the casualties with some of their possessions that had been passed to them from the ‘Fairline Surveyor’.
The ‘Grace Dixon’ returned to the lifeboat station at 12-25pm where it was made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was north-westerly, Force 6-7.
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