Barrow lifeboats called to stricken speedboat
Barrow RNLI’s volunteer crew launched both of their lifeboats in the early hours of Sunday to go to the assistance of a vessel taking on water south of Foulney Island.
The request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard at 2.14am today (Sunday 17th August). The crew was paged and the all-weather lifeboat, Grace Dixon and inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, were launched at 2.40am with boat crews lead by Coxswain Shaun Charnley and helm, Saul Tomlin. The lifeboats were on the scene within ten minutes where they located the 16-foot (4.9-metre) speedboat, with four people on board, about one mile south of Foulney Island. The speedboat was taking on water and the inshore lifeboat was used to transfer the casualties across to the all-weather lifeboat. The speedboat was then taken under tow and brought back to Roa Island. The Coastguard helicopter had been tasked to attend but was stood down en-route once it was confirmed that the lifeboats had the situation under control.
With the casualties safely ashore, the lifeboats were returned to the boathouse where they were washed down and made ready for the next service call.
The weather and visibility at the time of the incident was good and the wind was westerly, Force 1 – 2. The high tide had was due at 5.55am with a predicted height of 7.9 metres.
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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.
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