Lifeboat crew saves fishing boat from crashing into rocks

Coastguard praises fishing boat crew for raising the alarm

Lifeboat crews from Montrose and Stonehaven were scrambled to help a fishing boat drifting towards rocks off the Mearns coast yesterday morning.

The alarm was raised at 8.10am when the 30ft vessel reported its engines had failed a mile from the Tod Head Lighthouse.

The Stonehaven lifeboat crew managed to get the vessel away from the rocks and tow it into Stonehaven Harbour while the Montrose Lifeboat was stood down en route.

A spokesperson from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: “At about 8.10am this morning we had a call from a fishing vessel who was reporting that they were drifting towards Tod Head Lighthouse.

“They were 0.5 nautical miles offshore.

“Their engines had failed and they couldn’t restart.

“They were obviously a bit concerned and they did the right thing calling us.

“They were getting pushed ashore by the wind and tide and they thought they had lost their anchor.

“We sent the all-weather lifeboat from Montrose and the inshore lifeboat from Stonehaven and the Montrose and Stonehaven Coastguard rescue teams as well.

“The Stonehaven lifeboat was on scene very quickly. They threw a line out to the vessel to get her away from the rocks.

“She was then towed to Stonehaven Harbour, arriving shortly before 10am.”

The actions of the boat’s crew was praised by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency after they reported their problems quickly and on the correct emergency channel.

“Both crew members had life jackets, which is exactly what we want to hear and they were wearing the jackets in case the worse should happen,” the spokesperson added.

“Thankfully the vessel didn’t hit the rocks.

“The crew called us the minute they got into difficulties, which is exactly the right thing to do.

“This is what we strongly recommend because even if things do improve at least we are monitoring the situation.

“It’s very difficult to get time back and things can go downhill very quickly at sea.

“We fully commend the crew for giving us a call as soon as they realised they were in trouble.

“It was the right thing to do.”

We fully commend the crew for giving us a call as soon as they realised they were in trouble. It was the right thing to do