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Yarmouth RNLI tasked to reports of an upturned hull of a vessel.

Lifeboats News Release

Thursday 10 August 2023 saw Yarmouth’s volunteer RNLI crew paged to begin a search in the surrounding area of The Needles Lighthouse when reports of parts of an upturned vessel were spotted in the water.

Florence Reed

RNLI 17-25 leaving Yarmouth

Pagers sounded at 8:47pm after the RNLI volunteer crew returned to Yarmouth after their weekly practice to be tasked by HM Coastguard, as a vessel, believed to be a small, upturned boat, had been reported six miles west of the Needles Lighthouse.

The crew made good speed to the location and were instructed on the search pattern by HM Coastguard at 9:20pm and conducted the search over two hours.

During the search, the RNLI crew encountered a fog bank making conditions more difficult, to the point where the highly trained crew were using radar to navigate in darkest hours in order to locate any objects that were potentially in the water.

After communicating to HM Coastguard that after the thorough search nothing was found, the RNLI Lifeboat 17-25 Eric and Susan Hiscock, Wanderer was stood down and the crew began their passage home to Yarmouth Harbour at 11:42pm.

The crew returned to station at 12.15am, carried out their post-recovery checks and were marked as ready for service at 12.30am.

Notes to editors

· Photos attached include Yarmouth 17-25’s search pattern and a photograph taken by Florence Reed of 17-25 leaving the harbour at 8:59pm

· Yarmouth RNLI fundraisers held their annual ‘Brew for the Crew’ cake sale during Yarmouth Carnival week on Monday 7 August 2023 and raised over £400 for Yarmouth station.

  • Yarmouth RNLI Lifeboat 17-25 'Eric and Susan Hiscock ‘Wanderer’ came into service in 2001, prior to that Yarmouth RNLI had an Arun Class Lifeboat 52-08 'Joy and John Wade' which was in service for 23 years.

RNLI media contacts

● Hebe Gregory, Yarmouth RNLI Trainee Lifeboat Press Officer [email protected]

● Paul Dunt, Regional Media Officer (South East), 0207 6207426, 07785 296252

[email protected]

For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789

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For more information, please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the RNLI News Centre.

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 over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, 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 142,700 lives.

RNLI/Hebe Gregory

Yarmouth 17-25 search pattern

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, Twitter 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.

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