November 12, 2018 11.13 am This story is over 64 months old

Lifeboat crew rescues men from sinking yacht

The men are safe and well
Humber and Cleethorpes lifeboat assisting stricken yacht with help from Iceni Defiant. Photo: RNLI

RNLI lifeboats were called out for two Lincolnshire missions on Sunday, including a rescue of three men from a sinking yacht near Grimsby.

Cleethorpes and Humber lifeboats were called out by UK Coastguard at around 1.30pm on Sunday, November 11 as a yacht was sinking around two miles from the Grimsby port.

It was in the mouth of the River Humber and was taking on water. The windy weather conditions were a contributing factor in the boat’s situation.

Cleethorpes Lifeboat assisting the sinking yacht. Photo: RNLI

Cleethorpes Lifeboat, with a crew of two on board, went to the yacht which was being assisted by a commercial vessel, the Iceni Defiant.

The Cleethorpes Lifeboat is operated by a volunteer crew belonging to the RNLI, who made sure the men were safe and well.

It was then realised it would be impossible to take the yacht safely back to port at Grimsby without the portable salvage pump carried on the Humber lifeboat, which was then requested to join the operation.

Yacht being assisted into Grimsby Docks. Photo: RNLI

With the salvage pump on board, the yacht was taken to Grimsby and escorted to its berth by the Cleethorpes lifeboat.

The UK Coastguard Community Rescue Team from Cleethorpes made sure all is well.

Volunteer helm of Cleethorpes Lifeboat Steve Burton said: “This was a complex rescue involving coordinated work from a number of teams to safely return the vessel and her crew to Grimsby – I’m sure without our assistance the yacht would have been lost.”

Volunteer Helm Steve Burton takes the lifeboat back to Cleethorpes as the sun sets over Grimsby Docks. Photo: RNLI

Volunteer crew on Cleethorpes Lifeboat Steve Austin added: “We regularly train with our colleagues at Humber Lifeboat for exactly this sort of scenario, where we need to work alongside their crew using equipment we don’t carry on our own boat.”

Coxswain of the Humber Lifeboat David Steenvorden said: “Our thanks to the master and crew of the Iceni Defiant for going to the assistance of this vessel, keeping it safe until the RNLI arrived, and helping us throughout the operation.”

The lifeboat was called out again at around 10.30pm/11pm on Sunday evening to a fishing boat that had run aground in Humberston. Two men and a young boy were escorted safely back to shore.