Four shouts in one day for Eastbourne RNLI

At 09.13am they were tasked to launch the station's inshore lifeboat to assist the local coastguard with a search, but between launching and arriving at the search area they were stood down as the person had been located safe and well.

The crew on the inshore lifeboat were then re-tasked before they could return to station after reports of yacht that may have been in difficulty near Beachy Head. They made their way to the location and checked with vessels in the area but found nobody needing assistance and returned to station at 10.35am.

At 1.43am the pagers sounded again after a 17m yacht issued a Mayday call having suffered engine failure and taking on water just outside the entrance to Sovereign Harbour.

This time they launched the all weather lifeboat Diamond Jubilee. Due to the conditions it was deemed unsafe to put crew on board with the salvage pump when they arrived on scene.

Instead they established a tow and brought the stricken vessel into the safety of the harbour before transferring crew and the salvage pump to the vessel and towing the vessel to the harbour hoist bay where it could be lifted from the water and repairs carried out.

The crew had barely got back into the station before the pagers went off for a third time after a 12.5m motorboat 4.5 miles east of Sovereign Harbour issued a pan-pan call due to engine failure.

With no other vessels in the area and increasingly poor sea conditions the all weather lifeboat was launched again. Once on scene they established a tow and returned once more to Sovereign Harbour.

Their day was not complete however as after a short break they then went afloat again for a planned training exercise under the eyes of RNLI trainers and assessors.

Media Contacts:

Daniel Baldock, Eastbourne RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer [email protected]

Paul Dunt, RNLI Regional Media Officer London London and South East (07785) 296252 [email protected]

RNLI online: For more information on the RNLI please visit http://www.rnli.org/. News releases and other media resources, including RSS feeds, downloadable photos and video, are available at the RNLI News Centre.

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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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