Lowestoft RNLI Lifeboat responds to Mayday call from vessel taking in water

Lowestoft RNLI lifeboat was called out at 2.09pm on 14 July 2026 to give assistance to the Crew Transfer Vessel which was taking in water 43 miles North East of the Suffolk Coast

Lowestoft Lifeboat Coxswain John Fox said "The Crew Transfer Vessel was working in the East Anglia 3 Windfarm when they discovered the emergency and called for help.

The vessel was limping back to the coast at 10 knots using one engine and we reached them when they were 25 miles away.

A HM Coastguard helicopter had also arrived and was ready to take two crewmen off the vessel although this was eventually found not to be necessary.

A sister windfarm vessel that was nearby had brought an extra pump to help with the incoming seawater but the ship's crew gratefully accepted our offer of the use of the RNLI portable pump as well.

We moved alongside and our volunteer crew transferred our pump and hoses across together with a member of the lifeboat crew to operate it.

The seawater appeared to be coming in from around the engine shaft and the crew made efforts to stem the leak with limited success.

The three pumps were managing to keep the water level down as the Captain arranged to head for the Alicat Workboat's boatyard in Great Yarmouth where the vessel would be lifted from the water.

We escorted the boat to the boatyard where our colleagues from Great Yarmouth and Gorleston RNLI launched their lifeboats and used their portable pump to take over from us.

We returned to Lowestoft arriving back on our mooring at 9.15pm after a seven hour callout.

A lifeboat spokesman said "This was the lifeboat's second shout of the day - with the crew being called out during the morning for a shoreline search after an unattended pile of clothing had been found on a nudist beach - with no one nearby."

He added "Regarding the second call, its not often that we use our portable pump at an incident but it proved its worth this time and showed the merits of regular crew training on its use."

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For further information, please contact:

Michael Howes, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for RNLI North and East, [email protected]

Clare Hopps, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for North East and East England, 07824 518641, [email protected]

Richard Grange, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for North East and East England, 07483 112015, [email protected]

RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]

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