
Lymington Lifeboat responds to Mayday from powerboat at risk of sinking
At 15.23pm on Sunday 30th June Lymington Lifeboat were paged to a Mayday call from a vessel taking on water near Newtown Creek.
Both Lymington and Yarmouth lifeboats were tasked to immediately attend and made best speed to the vessel, which was by this time located further up the Solent, in the vicinity of West Leap buoy.
The Lymington voluntary crew were first to locate the 31 foot powerboat with seven persons on board. Crew member Rob Merrix boarded the casualty vessel to assess the severity of the situation.
Rob explained ‘I discovered that the leak had occurred from a water inlet on the port engine and after the water intake was turned off, the water ingress stopped. Once the engine compartment was free of water, the vessel was able to travel at a reduced speed.’
Gosport Independant Lifeboat arrived on scene shortly after and escorted the vessel, now down to one engine and reduced steering capability, back to Southampton dry stack.
Crew: James Douch (helm), Rob Merrix, Ed Wallrock, Ollie Jansen.
RNLI Contact details:
Jo Styles, Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer, Lymington Lifeboat Station (07725) 640871
Jo_Styles@rnli.org.uk
Hatti Mellor, Regional Communications Manager - SE & London (07724) 801305
hatti_mellor@rnli.org.uk
For enquiries outside normal business hours contact the RNLI duty press officer on (01202) 336789
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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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