Second call out of the week for Bridlington RNLI

The crew received the tasking from HM Coastguard at 10.04am on Tuesday January 7 for an immediate launch to assist a 10-meter-long fishing vessel that had lost power to its engines and steering, some 30 nautical miles south of Bridlington.

The station’s all-weather lifeboat (ALB) ‘Antony Patrick Jones’ was launched within 30 minutes, with a volunteer crew of six.

The ALB rendezvoused with the fishing vessel at 11.50am.

Sean Cheston, on his first tasking since qualifying as a Shannon Lifeboat Coxswain took command of the Bridlington RNLI Lifeboat.

He made the decision to take the fishing vessel (with a crew of four) under tow and return it to the safety of Bridlington harbour, as it was drifting into a deep anchorage area and towards the off-shore wind farm, which may have caused danger to itself and others.

With the fishing vessel under tow, the volunteer lifeboat then made the arduous journey back to Bridlington, making around 3-4 nautical miles per hour in a strong westerly wind with a 2.5- 4 metre swell.

After a long journey, the ALB entered Bridlington Harbour at 7pm, taking the casualty vessel to the south pier and mooring alongside the fishing quay.

After securing the fishing boat, the RNLI crew handed over to the HM Coastguards, with the lifeboat returning to the beach at 7.23pm, where it was recovered and washed down, refuelled and back on service by 8.45pm.

Sean Cheston, Bridlington RNLI coxswain said: “This was my first service call as coxswain at Bridlington RNLI and due to the position of the drifting fishing vessel and the danger it was imposing to itself and other vessels in the immediate area, I made the decision to tow it back to safety.

“The crew of the ALB was very professional and showed great skill making my job so much easier, the shore crew performed amazingly, working very swiftly but safely, making sure we got to sea quickly, and the same for the recovery of the ALB after a very long and very cold tasking.

“I would like to thank all volunteers at Bridlington lifeboat station.

“The commitment, training, hard work and dedication that all have endured definitely showed.”