A helicopter rescued four fishermen from a liferaft, after their 18 metre fishing vessel ‘Rachel Jayne III’ began to sink. They where taken to the Wansbeck Hospital where they were met by the Newbiggin Coastguard Rescue Team which gave them medical treatment.
Prehistory is as follows, at just before 5pm the fishing vessel ‘Kiroan’ contacted Humber Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre to say that they had heard the fishing vessel ‘Rachel Jayne III’ make a Mayday broadcast.
The ‘Rachel Jayne’ was taking on water and sinking 26 miles East North East of the Tynemouth Piers. The crew were also reported to be abandoning the vessel to their liferaft.
Humber Coastguard immediately sent the RAF rescue helicopter based at RAF Boulmer and the RNLI lifeboat based at Tynemouth to the scene. They also broadcast a Mayday alert message to vessels in the area requesting them to head for the scene. A large number of fishing vessels and commercial ships responded and headed towards the ‘Rachel Jayne III’.
Fortunately, the rescue operation was successful – no one was seriosly injured. But the incident just goes to show that you should alway be prepared for the unexpected.
FiskerForum.com
