The volunteer crew from Barrow’s Lifeboat Station launched their inshore lifeboat this afternoon to go to the aid of a broken-down fishing boat with two people on board.
The call for assistance came from the regional HM Coastguard base in Holyhead at 4:54pm with a request to launch to a 16-foot (4.9 metres) fishing boat, a Seahog Hunter, off the south end of Walney Island.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 5:05pm with Andy Baxter at the helm, assisted by Mike Harris and Shaun Hagan.
The lifeboat was alongside the casualty within fifteen minutes of launching and after assessing the problem it was decided to take the vessel under tow back to the Ferry Pitching, north of Jubilee Bridge.
The casualty vessel reached the Ferry Pitching at 6:20pm and with the crew now safe, the lifeboat was able to return to the boathouse where it was washed down and prepared for the next launch.
The weather at the time of the incident was fine and clear. The wind was south, south-westerly, Force 2-3, with the next high tide due at 11:32pm with a predicted height of 8.7 metres.
