At 5pm on Friday, a tasking was received by Bridlington RNLI from the HM Coastguards, in relation to a fishing vessel that had lost its power and was currently 13 nautical miles southeast of Bridlington.
The Scarborough RNLI all-weather boat (ALB), Frederick William Plaxton was already in attendance, after being tasked by the HM Coastguards shortly before noon, to assist the fishing vessel that was originally 23 nautical miles from Scarborough. The volunteers of Scarborough RNLI took the casualty vessel under tow, with the intention of moving it to a place of safety. However, after over 5 hours of towing with increasing wind and sea conditions which quickly became incredibly rough, the call was made for Bridlington RNLI to launch and assist Scarborough Lifeboat with the tow.
The volunteer crew of the Bridlington RNLI all-weather lifeboat (ALB) launched at 5.54pm into the pounding surf. The volunteers of the Bridlington ALB Anthony Patrick Jones made steady progress in gale force winds and rough seas, until reaching the two vessels at 7.17pm, when a decision was made between the Scarborough and Bridlington Coxswains to transfer the tow to the Bridlington ALB. With the casualty vessel now under tow, the Bridlington ALB then attempted to head for Grimsby, however due to incredibly difficult seas, gale force winds and towing a 24-meter vessel with a gross tonnage of 130 tonnes, the volunteer crew could only manage 2.8 nautical knots per hour.
After attempting to tow the casualty vessel and making some progress in the increasing wind and incredibly rough seas, the Humber RNLI ALB Pride of Humber was tasked at 0.16am. Also called out to assist was a tug boat that was requested by the casualty vessel owners, to tow the stricken vessel to Scarborough. With the tug taking over the full tow, the Bridlington RNLI all-weather lifeboat was stood down and made its way back to Bridlington and was back on the beach at 5.45am, was recovered, refuelled, and placed back on service by 7.37am.
At 12.12pm on Saturday (4th October) a second call was received from the HM Coastguard, requesting the volunteer crew of the Bridlington RNLI to launch once again. The tug from the previous tasking requested assistance as both the tug and the original casualty vessel were making no forward progress off Flamborough Head. By 12.51pm the Bridlington RNLI ALB had been launched and made best speed in a freshening wind and choppy sea to reach the casualties by 1.19pm, where the Bridlington RNLI volunteers took the fishing vessel under tow.
Once the casualty vessel had been towed to a safe area, it dropped anchor and the volunteer crew of the Bridlington RNLI were stood down and made its way back to Bridlington, reaching the beach at 6.18pm where it was once again recovered, washed down, refuelled and was back on service at 7.30pm.
Bridlington RNLI volunteer and Coxswain, Andy Rodgers said ‘this was a challenging tasking for both the Scarborough and Bridlington crews. I would like to thank all the crew members for their commitment and dedication this weekend in what where very testing North Sea conditions’.
