
Two brought to safety in Oban Bay darkness
The Oban Lifeboat team is asking people not to venture out onto the water at night unless they are properly equipped.
It comes after the volunteer crew was tasked by Stornoway coastguard at 8.20pm on Friday evening after reports that a small dinghy with two people on board was adrift in Oban Bay with no navigational lights or safety gear.
The Campbell-Watson launched and, with no exact details of the dinghy’s position and concerns that the prevailing wind could carry the small vessel out of the bay, began a search using her floodlights.
The pair were spotted by the Kerrera Marina ferry Dirk whose crew managed to secure the dinghy alongside and radioed the lifeboat. The lifeboat travelled across to the ferry and the two people and their craft were then transferred aboard.
Both people appeared warm and dry. They had no safety equipment, VHF radio or lights, and only one of them had a lifejacket on.
Oban lifeboat headed to the community pontoons to secure the dinghy before taking the people back to the lifeboat station where they were handed over to the care of members of the Coastguard Rescue Team, who had also been involved in the search.
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.