The volunteer crew from Barrow’s Lifeboat Station launched their inshore lifeboat this evening to go to the aid of a fishing vessel with engine trouble.
The call for assistance came from the regional HM Coastguard base in Holyhead at 7pm this evening. The information received was that a 23-foot (7-metre) fishing vessel was in difficulty after experiencing engine trouble. The location of the casualty was to the east of Piel Island.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 7:15pm with Jonny Long at the helm assisted by Saul Tomlin and Adam Cleasby. The lifeboat was quickly at the scene, but the skipper of the fishing vessel had managed to re-start his engine and was making his way back to his mooring north of Jubilee Bridge. The lifeboat escorted the vessel for a while and once the skipper was happy to proceed alone, the lifeboat was stood down.
The lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 7:45pm where it was washed down and prepared for the next launch.
The weather at the time of the incident was cloudy with good visibility. The wind was north-easterly, Force 4, and low water had just passed at 7:07pm.
With very high spring tides this weekend, the RNLI issued a reminder for those intending to go to the coast on Sunday to take extra care and be aware of the potential to be cut off by the incoming tide. The high tide on Sunday afternoon in Barrow is due at 1:07pm with a predicted height of 10.0 metres.
