Bridlington RNLI and Humber RNLI launch to Assist Fishing Vessel

Wednesday, 6 December 2023 14:20

By Matthew Pells

Bridlington Lifeboat 'Antony Patrick Jones' and Humber Lifeboat 'Roger and Joy Freeman' on exercise earlier this year.

Volunteer crew from Bridlington RNLI and RNLI Humber mounted a joint operation to assist a fishing vessel 19 nautical miles north east of spurn point on Monday.

At 3.24pm Humber RNLI received a tasking from the HM Coastguards to assist a fishing vessel that had suffered engine failure and loss of its communications system north of the Humber. The fishing vessel was drifting in a north west direction, as the vessel may have been at risk to itself and other vessels Humber RNLI was launched.

Once at sea, Humber RNLI requested assistance from Bridlington RNLI to get the vessel back to Bridlington. Bridlington’s all-weather lifeboat (ALB) ‘Antony Patrick Jones’ was launched with a volunteer crew of six.

Upon reaching the drifting vessel at 5.10pm, it was taken under tow by the Bridlington lifeboat and both boats headed slowly back towards Bridlington Harbour with the Humber RNLI being stood down by HM Coastguards at 6.30pm.

After just over an hour the crew of the fishing vessel managed to re-start its engines and all power was restored. At 7.45pm Bridlington’s ALB tow was disconnected and the casualty vessel set sail again under its own power. The volunteer crew from Bridlington returned the lifeboat to the beach at 8.33pm and was recovered, washed down and back on service by 9.35pm.

Steve Emmerson, Coxswain of the Bridlington all-weather lifeboat said

'We entered the sea in a strong north easterly wind and into a heavy swell which wasn’t ideal, upon reaching the vessel it was discovered to have 2 persons on board who were on a passage from Plymouth to Buckie when the vessel encountered engine problems.

The tow was challenging due to the weight of the vessel and the challenging sea conditions. Within 10 nautical miles of Bridlington the crew on the casualty vessel managed to re-start the engine we disconnected the tow and were stood down by the coastguards’