Barrow RNLI Lifeboat Called to Drifting Vessel
Volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow Lifeboat Station launched their inshore lifeboat this morning to recover a small vessel which was drifting in Walney Channel.
The call for assistance was received from the regional HM Coastguard base in Holyhead at 6-55am. The information received was that a 16-foot (5-metre) motorboat had broken free from its mooring north of Jubilee Bridge and was drifting across Walney Channel towards the Dock Museum. As such, it posed a hazard to navigation and might have caused damage to other vessels nearby.
The crew was paged and the Barrow inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 7-15am with Ben Jackson at the helm assisted by Adam Cleasby and Paul Wilcock.
The lifeboat was on scene shortly after 7-30am but as the high tide had passed nearly two hours previously, it was clear that the casualty vessel was now aground. The owners were contacted and advised that their vessel would re-float on the afternoon tide, and it was established that they were happy to wait until then and move it back on to a mooring themselves.
The lifeboat was stood down and able to return to Roa Island where it was rehoused and made ready for the next launch.
The weather at the time of the incident was cloudy, the visibility was fair, and the wind was west north-westerly, Force 5 – 6. The high tide had occurred at 5-37am with a predicted height of 8.2 metres.
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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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