Donaghadee RNLI launched to assist fisherman on trawler in difficulty

A 40ft fishing trawler with one person onboard, was on passage from Rothesay in the Isle of Bute to Kilkeel, County Down, when they contacted the Coastguard to report that they had no electrics although they did have power and steering, but they were not confident of their location and thought they may be in Belfast Lough. Subsequently the Coastguard activated the pagers of Donaghadee lifeboat crew to request them to launch.

With a crew of seven onboard, the RNLI lifeboat Macquarie was underway seven minutes later. With a calm sea state and a light westerly wind they were able to make full speed in the general direction of the trawler's last reported location – just north of Portpatrick.

As the trawler had no electrics this meant that it also had no navigation lights, leaving the boat with its skipper, at risk of not being visible to a larger vessel at sea and restricting its own visibility.

The Coastguard liaised with the crew on the lifeboat and reported an up to date rough latitude and longitude from the fishing trawler which enable them to have a more accurate direction to take. Iain Kaleda, mechanic onboard the lifeboat, was able to establish both phone contact and later VHF contact with the skipper. As the skipper had a handheld VHF onboard this allowed the crew of the lifeboat to use their direction finding equipment to gain a more exact location for the trawler.

At 3.15am, the vessel was located approximately 18 miles north of Donaghadee, and the crew established that the skipper was safe and well and it was agreed that given he still had no electrics, it was best that they escort him to the safety of Bangor marina.

At approximately 5.30am, the trawler then also lost engine power and with still quite a way to go to the safety of the marina and given the danger to both the vessel and other shipping in the area the coxswain of the lifeboat decided that it was safest to secure a towline to the fishing trawler and tow it with its skipper, to safety.

After towing for about an hour the lifeboat and the casualty vessel arrived into the safety of Bangor marina where they were met by Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team and Bangor marinas local cat!

Following this call out, Iain Kaleda, Donahadee RNLI mechanic, said: ‘Issues like this do happen on vessels and this skipper made the best decision to contact the Coastguard early and ask for assistance. We go to sea to help any casualty regardless of how or why they became in difficulty. We do recommend always checking that you have a means of communication with a VHF being an ideal option as it does allow the lifeboat to use its direction finding equipment, which is key to locating a casualty. We wish the skipper a safe onward passage when repairs are made.’

Ends

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