St Bees RNLI tow in fishing boat and assist with beach emergency
At 730pm on Saturday last, 30 May, the volunteers at St Bees RNLI were requested by Belfast Coastguard to go to the aid of a 20ft fishing boat with mechanical failure.
The volunteers at St Bees RNLI were paged early on Saturday evening to go to the aid of a small fishing boat broken down about one mile from Whitehaven Harbour with two adults and a child on board. The boat was making its way south to a new berth outside of Cumbria.
The volunteer crew quickly located the vessel and attached a tow line. The boat was then taken into the harbour and met by members of the Whitehaven Coastguard Rescue Team.
The lifeboat then returned to the station and was washed down and made ready for the next call out.
As the crew were being debriefed a member of the public informed them that a man had fallen and injured himself by the play area. The volunteers using their casualty care training and wearing the required PPE to protect themselves and the public from Covid-19 quickly established that the casualty would require hospital treatment for a suspected broken leg. The RNLI crew remained with the casualty until the ambulance arrived.
Dick Beddows, St Bees RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘If undertaking a sea passage please make sure you have checked the vessel is mechanically sound and sea worthy, ensure all the crew have lifejackets and that you have the means of communication and navigation, other than a mobile phone’.
Ends
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.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.