PLEASURE VESSEL BEACHED AT REDCAR
A pleasure
vessel with three anglers on board was beached at Redcar this morning after
taking on water two nautical miles offshore.
People on
board the vessel ‘Ocean Pearl’ contacted Humber Coastguard at 9.10 this morning
to let them know that they were rapidly taking on water and were out of
Hartlepool. Humber Coastguard requested that
the two Hartlepool RNLI lifeboats attend and bring a pump to attempt to pump
out some of the water. However, when
plotting the position of the vessel, the Coastguard ascertained that they were
actually offshore of Redcar, and so the two Redcar RNLI lifeboats were
requested to launch. Three vessels that
were in the area also immediately proceeded to offer assistance. Concerned at the speed at which the vessel
was taking on water, the rescue helicopter at RAF Leconfield was also sent to
the scene.
The vessel ‘Samantha’
arrived on scene at 09.17 and began towing the vessel back to shore whilst the
crew attempted to bail out the water with buckets. The Redcar RNLI lifeboat arrived on scene at
09.29 and brought pumps on board, and the Hartlepool lifeboats arrived on scene
at 09.35 and did the same. The pumps
were only just able to cope with the amount of water flowing into the vessel.
At 09.48 the
decision was taken to beach the vessel at Redcar, with the three crew brought
ashore safe and well and passed into the care of the coastguard team.
Graham Dawson, Watch Manager, Humber
Coastguard said:
“We were
extremely concerned at the rate at which the Ocean Pearl was taking on water
and so it was imperative that we had rescue resources on scene as soon as
possible should the situation worsen.
The RNLI lifeboats brought pumps on board the casualty vessel but the
water was flowing in quickly and so the decision was made to beach the Ocean
Pearl at Redcar and bring the crew ashore.
We would like to thank the other vessels in the area that offered
assistance, and the ‘Samantha’ for towing her to safety.”