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29
March 2009
Sailors rescued from a blazing boat
The
Hayling Island RNLI inshore lifeboats
were involved in the rescue of four
men from a blazing 40ft motor cruiser
in Chichester Harbour on Sunday 29th
March. The boat was on a short trip
from Northney Marina, north of Hayling
Island, when one of the vessel’s
engines caught fire.
The
four men had been taken off the
blazing vessel by “Hayling Rescue”, a
Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), which was
first on scene, and they were then
transferred to the Hayling Island RNLI
Atlantic 85, B Class Lifeboat,
“Derrick Battle”. The voluntary
lifeboat crew then made sure that
other vessels kept well away from the
burning vessel which was drifting in
the tide with a full fuel tank, a
spare petrol can and a full gas bottle
on board. The four men, who were
unharmed, were taken back to Northney
Marina. Meanwhile, the lifeboat crew
on the Hayling Island D Class
lifeboat, “Amanda, James & Ben”,
helped to transfer the fire fighting
equipment to fire fighters now on
board the RIB. “Hayling Rescue”. The
Portsmouth RNLI D Class lifeboat was
also on scene.
Andy
Ferguson, Senior Helm of the RNLI’s
Atlantic 85 said, “It was a very
successful combined operation with all the rescue services working well
together.”
Nearly
3 hours later, when the Atlantic 85
lifeboat was returning to station, the
lifeboat crew responded to a MAYDAY
call to a person in the water from a
capsized dinghy off East Head, in
Chichester Harbour. The dinghy sailor,
who was unharmed, was taken on board
the lifeboat and he and his boat, now
in tow from the lifeboat, were taken
back to the shore.
A
spokesperson for the RNLI said, “The
rescue of the dinghy sailor was the
fifth service in which the new
Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat, Derrick
Battle” has only been involved since
it was placed on station at Hayling
only four weeks ago. The Atlantic 85
with its twin 115hp engines is faster
and more efficient than the Atlantic
75 lifeboat it replaced and certainly
proved its worth on Sunday.” |
