HM Coastguard alerted to yachtmen in difficulty after EPIRB beacon alert


Today we are celebrating volunteers as part of Maritime Safety Week and this successful search and rescue operation reminds us how important they are to safety at sea and on the coast.

HM Coastguard coordinated a search and rescue operation and rescued two yachtsmen after a personal locator beacon was activated around 10.30pm yesterday (5 July).

An EPIRB beacon alert was received for French registered yacht Gamin approximately 40 nautical miles off the Isles of Scilly.
Falmouth Coastguard Operations Centre coordinated the search and the St Mary’s RNLI lifeboat, the Newquay search and rescue helicopter and a merchant vessel proceeded to locate the vessel.
The capsized yacht was located just after midnight. Two French nationals onboard confirmed they were not injured. 
The crew of the St Mary’s lifeboat rescued the yachtsmen at around 2.15am today (July 6) and returned them to St Marys Harbour. 
A surveillance aircraft is currently keeping watch over the yacht to ensure the safety of other vessels until it can be removed.
HM Coastguard Controller James Instance said: “We were alerted to the incident because the crew set off two Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) which enabled us to successfully locate them. This demonstrates the importance of carrying EPIRBS and ensuring they are registered with the coastguard at gov.uk/406beacon.”

#AlwaysOnCall #999Coastguard #MaritimeSafetyWeek 
#MaritimeSafetyMatters 
 

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