Trawler and fishermen towed to safety by Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat
Trawler and fishermen towed to safety by Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat
Lifeboats News Release
A FISHING vessel and her two crew were rescued by Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat on Saturday after their vessel became stranded 10 nautical miles southeast of the Tyne piers.
RNLI/Michael Brown
The fishing vessel Moremma seen stranded ten miles south east of the Tyne piers from the wheelhouse of Tynemouth RNLI all weather lifeboat.
The skipper of the Peterhead-based 23m 172 tonne Moremma radioed UK Coastguard's Humber Operations Centre at around 17:00 requesting assistance but after the coastguard lost contact with the vessel without obtaining their exact position they made a 'Pan Pan' broadcast over the marine VHF radio network, alerting any vessels in the area to a vessel in distress.
UK Coastguard requested the launch of Tynemouth RNLI's all weather lifeboat and as the lifeboat launched a few minutes after the crew were paged, the crew of offshore support vesselOcean Osprey responded to the 'Pan Pan' broadcast reporting that they had the Moremma in sight two miles away and would send a daughter vessel over to check on her and the fishermen.
The lifeboat arrived on scene at 17:50 and the volunteer crew quickly assessed the situation, discovering that the vessel had suffered a major machinery failure leading to the loss of propulsion, before attaching a tow rope.
The Moremma and her crew were then towed to safety at North Shields fish quay where they arrived at 19:30, being met by members of the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade who assisted with the berthing from shore.
Once the fishing vessel was safely tied up alongside the quay the lifeboat refuelled and returned to station.
Adrian Don, from Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat station, said: 'The Moremma's skipper radioed for assistance but then his vessel lost all power before being able to pass their position to UK Coastguard.
'The crew of the offshore vessel Ocean Osprey quickly responded to the Coastguard 'Pan Pan' broadcast having located the stranded vessel not far away from them, and gave assistance by sending a small craft across to make sure the fishermen weren't in any immediate danger.
'When the lifeboat arrived our crew members quickly attached the tow rope, and one crew member went onboard the trawler for the tow back to harbour which went smoothly and without any further incident.
'Our volunteer RNLI crew members are alway ready to go to the assistance of anyone in difficulty on or in the water and that is only possible thanks to the generosity of the public who we rely on entirely for funding.'
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For more information please contact Adrian Don, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer, on 07834 731833
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 D class inshore lifeboat Little Susie. You can find us on Facebook at
Facebook.com/TynemouthRNLI or follow us on Twitter
@TynemouthRNLI and
Instagram.com/tynemouth_rnli.
RNLI/Michael Brown
The fishing vessel Moremma seen stranded ten miles south east of the Tyne piers from the wheelhouse of Tynemouth RNLI all weather lifeboat. Thecraft sent by offshore support vessel Ocean Osprey is also visible.
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.
