Boat on fire off Mumbles Head

At 6.45 pm tonight UK Coastguard at Milford Haven received a May Day call for a boat on fire off Mumbles head.

The volunteer crew of the Mumbles Lifeboats launched within 10 minutes and were on scene shortly after. The skipper of the 10ft dinghy had been picked up by a passing vessel was transferred to the lifeboat while the casualty vessels engine posed no danger and so the dinghy was taken in tow to Knab Rock .

Coxswain of the Mumbles Lifeboat Martin Double said ‘He was very lucky that he managed to be rescued by the passing vessel so quickly. Fortunately there wasn’t too much damage to the dinghy. This meant we could take it in tow to safety. Further investigation showed the fire was electrical and somewhat isolated from the fuel supply. It could have been a very different story if it had got into the fuel supply’.

Anyone concerned about boat safety should visit www.RNLI.org.Uk for further information.

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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 142,700 lives.

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