Margate RNLI responds to vessel with engine room fire
Margate’s RNLI all-weather lifeboat has provided assistance to a vessel with ten persons on board after it developed a fire in one of its engine rooms.
The wind farm support vessel issued a Mayday distress message around 6pm last night (Wednesday 4 September) reporting it had a fire in one of its engine rooms. It was around 15 miles north of Margate at the time and had two crew and eight passengers on board. UK Coastguard tasked Margate’s all-weather RNLI lifeboat to assist with three other windfarm support vessels also proceeding to the vessel’s assistance.
The affected compartment on the vessel was sealed off and its fixed firefighting system activated, with the master reporting that the indication was that the fire had been extinguished. As a precaution the eight passengers were transferred to another support vessel that had now arrived.
Once on the scene the lifeboat put one of its crew members on board the casualty vessel to assist the crew to establish a tow with a third windfarm support vessel which subsequently towed the vessel to the safety of Ramsgate harbour, escorted by the lifeboat.
Once the craft had been secured alongside at Ramsgate, the lifeboat provided additional safety stand-by cover while Kent Fire and Rescue teams confirmed the fire had been extinguished. With the situation resolved the lifeboat returned to station.
ENDS
RNLI Media contacts
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Peter Barker, RNLI Margate Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer 07974 064304 [email protected]
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Paul Dunt, Regional Media Officer (SouthEast), 0207 6207416, 07786 668825 [email protected]
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For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
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