Barrow lifeboat called to small vessel adrift in Walney Channel
Barrow RNLI’s volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat yesterday afternoon following reports of a small dinghy adrift in Walney Channel.
The request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard at 12.18pm on Saturday (21st March). The information received was that a Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) operating out of Barrow had encountered an un-occupied two-metre dinghy adrift in Walney Channel.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, was launched at 12.25pm with Adam Cleasby at the helm along with crew, Nic Johnson and Luke Wilkinson.
The lifeboat, which had been out on exercise earlier in the day, was tasked by HM Coastguard to head out to the dinghy and assess the situation once on scene. The lifeboat reached the casualty vessel, which was in the vicinity of the Halfway Shoal Beacon, at 12.39pm and because it was in the navigation channel it presented a hazard to other vessels. Therefore, it was decided that the best option was to take the dinghy under tow to a place of safety. A line was attached and the vessel was brought to the Foulney Island car park area where it was beached.
The lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 2.30pm where it was re-housed by the waiting shore crew and made ready for the next launch. The weather at the time of the incident was good and the wind was westerly, Force 1. The high tide was at 12.48pm with a height of 9.8m.
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