Early morning call for Lytham St Annes RNLI to rescue two onboard fishing boat

Approximately 12 and a half hours after completing an all night search for two missing teenagers who tragically died, the Lytham St Annes RNLI lifeboat crew were paged at 1.16am to assist a 30ft (9.14m) Colvic fishing boat with two people onboard that had sustained steering failure. Unsure of her position in the Irish Sea, the casualty was thought to be somewhere off the mouth of the Ribble while on passage from Liverpool to Whitehaven.

The charity’s all-weather lifeboat Barbara Anne was quickly launched under the command of Coxswain Tom Stuart and after a short search using direction finding equipment and radar, found the disabled vessel just over 12 nautical miles south west from the station.

Taking the motor boat in tow, the lifeboat headed north at six knots (six nautical miles per hour), the best speed possible, towards the Wyre Estuary and safety. Arriving off Shell Wharf at the mouth of the River Wyre a few minutes before 7am, the lifeboat rendezvoused with the Fleetwood RNLI relief lifeboat Ruth and David Arthur to transfer the tow across.

The Fleetwood RNLI lifeboat then headed into the Wyre with the fishing boat in tow and after a time on a mooring waiting for Fleetwood Dock Lock to open, secured the casualty safely inside the dock. Meanwhile the Lytham RNLI lifeboat, relieved of her tow, headed for home, beaching near the Thursby Home at 7.47 AM before being recovered onto her SLRS carriage and returned to her boathouse by the shore crew.

Tom Stuart, Lytham St Annes RNLI Coxswain said after coming ashore: 'It was a successful service and the casualty vessel and her crew are now safe. The lifeboat volunteers did an excellent job despite being out all night the day after another all night service.'

Ends

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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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