Fraserburgh RNLI, paged once, tasked twice on a Sunday
The volunteers at Fraserburgh RNLI were paged at 01.10am yesterday (18 August) to go to the assistance of a fishing vessel whose position was given as being 29 miles out. A rope had fouled its prop and the boat was powerless.
Fraserburgh Lifeboat launched quickly and with Brian Wells coxswain, John Best Mechanic, and volunteers Chay Cumming, Jason Flett, Mark Hadden, Lindsay Palmer and Shane Richardson aboard they headed towards the stricken vessel.
Arriving on scene they quickly established a tow and began to tow the vessel back to Fraserburgh. After a few hours and only a few miles from Fraserburgh they were tasked again to another incident at 5.45am
The Coastguard instructed Fraserburgh Lifeboat to immediately go to the aid of another fishing vessel which was taking in water quickly around 70 miles from land.
Buckie Lifeboat were paged to take over the final few miles of the original tow, taking the vessel safely into Fraserburgh Harbour at 8.50am.
Meanwhile, Fraserburgh lifeboat had covered 40 or 50 miles heading towards the second fishing vessel and were still around 20 miles away when they were advised that the crew of six or seven had been airlifted to safety.
They were stood down by the coastguard and returned to station at 10.05am
On the way back to the station, the crew were informed that the vessel had sadly sunk.
The lifeboat was refuelled, washed down and ready for next service at 10.30
Key facts about the RNLI
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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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
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