Vessels go to aid of sinking yacht
Oban Lifeboat launched just before 4.30pm yesterday (Thursday) to go to a vessel that had put out a Pan Pan emergency call southwest of Insh island.
The yacht, with one person onboard, reported it was taking on water and needing urgent assistance.
The coastguard rescue centre soon upgraded the Pan Pan (urgent) call to Mayday status amid concern for the sailor.
While the volunteer crew of The Campbell-Watson were making their way to the position off Seil, two other vessels, a fish farm boat and a sea safari rib, were also responding to the mayday.
Oban lifeboat arrived at the yacht and, following an assessment of the situation, quickly transferred two crew members and a salvage pump over to the casualty boat to assist the exhausted skipper.
The source of the water was established and sealed, and the yacht was pumped out. However, so much water had flooded onto the vessel that it had lost all electrical power and, as the sea conditions were challenging, it was decided to take the vessel under tow to safety.
The yacht was brought to Oban and taken alongside at Kerrera Marina.
The coxswain and crew on the shout would like to thank the crew of the fish farm vessel and sea safari rib for responding to the alert.
Some of the members of the lifeboat crew were still able to run their 29th Mayday fundraising mile when they returned to the lifeboat station later in the evening.
The final Mayday Mile will be on Saturday at 4pm when RNLI crewmembers will be joined by colleagues from other emergency and rescue services for a final run from the lifeboat station to the North Pier and back.
There’s still time to make a donation by visiting our fundraising page: https://fundraise.rnli.org/fundraisers/obanlifeboatstation
Key facts about the RNLI
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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