Eleven-hour call-out for Margate lifeboat assisting yacht aground off north Kent

UK Coastguard received a Pan Pan urgency message from the yacht, with three persons on board around 6pm yesterday (Thursday 2 June) reporting they had run aground on the Pan Sand, nine miles north west of Margate while on passage from Queenborough to Belgium. The tide was ebbing, around three hours before low water and the vessel soon developed a list of around forty-five degrees. Margate’s B class Atlantic 85 lifeboat was tasked to assess the situation and provide assistance including evacuating the crew if required.

Once on scene the lifeboat crew checked on the welfare of the occupants who were well but as the yacht would not refloat for several hours it was decided to take the three crewmembers off and land them back at Margate. The vessel was made secure and an anchor laid out and the casualties were met at Margate by members of Margate Coastguard Rescue Team.

It was considered prudent for the yacht’s crew to remain ashore and they were ‘bedded down’ in the boathouse, there being no hotel accommodation available locally. The lifeboat re-launched around 10.30pm on the flood tide to recover the vessel as it posed a potential hazard to navigation. Once the yacht was afloat it was taken in tow by the lifeboat to Ramsgate harbour where it was reunited with its crew. The lifeboat returned to station and was back ready for service by 5am today (Friday 3 June).

Derek Amas, Lifeboat Operations Manager, Margate Lifeboat said: “This was a long and protracted call for the volunteer crew after they had spent the day at the boathouse to ensure a rapid response with expected heavy holiday traffic in the town. The safety of the yacht’s occupants was the priority but it was also prudent to assist when the casualty vessel refloated and help avoid any potential problems in an area close to busy shipping lanes.”

Notes to editors

· Margate lifeboat station has been operating since 1860. To learn more about the lifeboat station go to: https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/margate-lifeboat-station

RNLI media contacts

For more information please contact:

· Peter Barker, RNLI volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07974 064304 or [email protected]

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.