[T]he volunteer crew from the RNLI’s Barrow station launched their inshore lifeboat today, Saturday 16th June 2018, to go to the aid of a Rigid-inflatable Boat (RIB) which had broken down in Walney Channel.
The call for assistance came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead at 3:16pm.
The information received was that a RIB, with four people on board, had broken down in Walney Channel close to the Ramsden Dock Entrance at the port of Barrow.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 3:21pm with Dave Kell at the helm assisted by two crew, Adam Cleasby and Richard Rawlinson. A further 7 crew members responded to the call-out.
The lifeboat proceeded along Walney Channel and was on the scene at 3-47pm where the RIB was found to be secure at one of the offshore windfarm pontoons. However, with other vessel traffic due at the port, the RIB was required to leave the pontoon. The lifeboat took the stricken vessel under tow and it was returned safely to the Ferry Pitching at 4:07pm.
With the casualty vessel and crew safe, the ‘Vision of Tamworth’ returned to the lifeboat station at 4-30pm where it was made ready for the next launch.
The wind at the time of the incident was south-westerly, Force 3-4, and the high tide had passed at 2:11pm with a height of 9.6 metres.
