DOVER COASTGUARD PICK UP VESSEL IN DISTRESS ON RADAR

At 13.06 pm, a Coastguard on radar duty at Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) spotted a shadow on his screen that was unlike the usual ship symbols on his radar.

The position was quickly identified as three miles off the entrance to the Port of Dover.  An attempt to communicate with the vessel by VHF radio was unsuccessful.  The vessel was heading for Dover but was being carried by the wind and the currents backwards at 3 knots.

The wind at Dover at the moment is Gale force 8 winds with rough seas.

The vessel was identified as being a converted Dutch river barge with three people onboard.  The vessel is on passage from Nieuport, Belgium to Dover, and is 65 feet long with a 14 foot beam. 3.3 foot draught and weighs 33 tons.

Dover Coastguard requested the launch of the Dover RNLI lifeboat to go to the position of the vessel and confirm their situation and assist as necessary.

Once the lifeboat arrived with the vessel, they were able to communicate with the crew and ascertained that they were indeed in distress. They were taking water and struggling with the weather conditions, all crew were wearing lifejackets. Unfortunately their VHF radio was not working well enough for them to able to communicate with the Coastguard.

The lifeboat now has safely towed the vessel to the Port of Dover, in extremely challenging conditions.

Tony Evans, Watch Manager, Dover Coastguard said:

The weather conditions are not favourable at the moment in the Strait of Dover for any vessel. The wind is blowing at 35 Knots/40 mph.

Dover Coastguard is the only station to have the use of radar in monitoring shipping as required by the CNIS (Channel Navigation Information Service).  In this particular incident, the professionalism of the radar operator has averted an incident which could have had a different outcome.

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