Engine room fire on cargo vessel off Luccombe
At 4:10pm on 9 February, Bembridge RNLI launched the all-weather lifeboat, Alfred Albert Williams, to a 126m cargo vessel reporting an engine room fire. The ship travelling from Jersey to Portsmouth with 24 crew, had anchored off Luccombe with smoke visible when the lifeboat arrived.
Challenging conditions added to the complexity of the incident, with a south‑easterly Force 6 wind, heavy rain, and a 3–4 metre swell making the situation potentially hazardous. Due to the rough seas, it was not safe to evacuate crew from the vessel at that time. A contingency plan was therefore established to use the ship’s own lifeboats should an abandonment become necessary.
HM Coastguard deployed Helicopter 75 to assess remaining hotspots via their thermal imaging. Additionally, three tugboats were also tasked to assist, but worsening weather meant they were later stood down for safety reasons.
Throughout the incident Bembridge RNLI crew maintained close communication with the vessel. After a period of monitoring, confirmation was received that the fire had been extinguished and the vessel was cooling, allowing HM Coastguard to stand down the lifeboat.
Bembridge RNLI Coxswain Guy commented on the shout: 'The vessel didn’t end up needing to evacuate, but with 24 people onboard and an engine room fire reported, we stayed close by throughout. The weather was pretty unforgiving so our focus was simply being ready to step in the moment we were needed. Fortunately the fire settled in the end, but we were exactly where we needed to be to keep them safe in case matters deteriorated.'
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