[T]he volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station launched their inshore lifeboat this afternoon, Friday 17th November, to assist a fishing vessel in Walney Channel which had suffered engine failure.
The request to launch the lifeboat came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead at 3:33pm. The information received was that a 17’ fishing boat had broken down in Walney Channel at a location known locally as “Seldom Seen”, approximately mid-way between the end of Foulney Island and the Haws Point East Beacon. The skipper of the boat reported to HM Coastguard that his boat had an electrical fault on its engine.
The Barrow inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’ was requested to launch at 3:36pm and to go to the assistance of the stricken boat. The lifeboat was launched a few minutes later but in the meantime the crew of the fishing vessel had carried out a repair and their boat was underway again. In order to ensure that the fishing vessel completed its passage home safely, the ‘Vision of Tamworth’ escorted the boat northwards along Walney Channel towards its mooring.
The ‘Vision of Tamworth’ then returned to the lifeboat station at Roa Island where it was made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was westerly, Force 4 – 5. The next high tide was due at 10-51pm with a predicted height of 9.1 metres.
