HM Coastguard

Three adults were rescued from the mud at Kingsbridge Estuary this evening after their dinghy became grounded in mud on the falling tide. At 20.15, one of the adults called the Police to report that they had gone out in a dinghy on the Kingsbridge Estuary near Salcombe, and become stuck in the mud with the tide going out.  The Police passed on this report to Brixham Coastguard who contacted and advised them not to try and get out of the dinghy, and that they would send help.  Brixham Coastguard then tasked the Prawle Point Coastguard Rescue Team, and the Teignmouth Coastguard Mud Rescue Team, who brought their specialist mud rescue equipment.  Members of the Devon and Cornwall Fire Brigade and Salcombe Harbour Authority also attended. Once on scene, the Coastguard Rescue Team set up their mud rescue equipment and began to pull the dinghy and three adults across the 20 yard stretch of mud back to the bank.  At 21.55 all three adults were safely ashore, with none in need of medical a

A climber was airlifted to Royal Cornwall Hospital with pelvic injuries this evening after a rescue operation by Coastguard Rescue Teams that took nearly five hours due to poor weather conditions and the remote location of the casualty. The group of climbers, from the London Climbing Club, had been climbing between Carn Barra and Gwennap Head, two miles south of Land’s End , when a 29-year-old male climber fell 7 metres onto rocks.   At 18.03 another member of the climbing group called the Coastguard to report the incident, but was only able to give vague details of their location as the informant did not know the local area. Falmouth Coastguard sent the Land’s End Cliff Rescue Team to the scene to locate the casualty, and at 18.23 they found the group of climbers but were unable to immediately reach them. The Land’s End team then set up their cliff rescue equipment and went to assist the male who was at the base of the 200ft cliffs.   At this time it was raining heavily, and vis

A large scale search for a 5-year-old-boy involving a helicopter, lifeboat and two Coastguard Rescue Teams was stood down this afternoon after the child was found safe and well in his tent. North Yorkshire Police contacted Humber Coastguard at 12.17 this afternoon reporting that a 5-year-old-boy had gone missing from the Crow’s Nest Caravan Park between Scarborough and Filey.   By this time the child had already been missing for 45 minutes.   With the caravan site’s proximity to the cliffs at the south east end of Cayton Bay, Humber Coastguard immediately sent resources to begin a search – tasking the Filey and Scarborough Coastguard Rescue Teams, the Filey RNLI Inshore Lifeboat and the Rescue 128 Helicopter from RAF Leconfield to the scene.   At 13.00 the boy was located safe and well, in a compartment in the tent where he had been hiding.   The search was consequently stood down. Humber Coastguard Watch Manager Graham Dawson said: “Following the report of the missing child we imm

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) announced today that nine foreign flagged ships were under detention in UK ports during April 2011 after failing Port State Control ( PSC ) inspection. Latest monthly figures show that there were six new detentions of foreign flagged ships in UK ports during April 2011 and three vessels remained under detention from previous months. The overall rate of detentions compared with inspections carried out over the last twelve months was 3.03% this is slightly up from March’s twelve month rate. Out of the detained vessels five were registered with flag states listed on the Paris MOU white list, two were registered with a flag state on the grey list none were registered with flag states on the black list and two were unregistered. -Ends- Notes to Editors 1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson's Inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Contr

On the 25th May, MCA Surveyors from the Southampton Marine Office Southampton visited the cruise ship MSC OPERA on its arrival at Southampton to undertake a routine Port State Control Inspection. Various defects were found which meant that the ship was not fully compliant with International maritime safety regulations. As a consequence the MCA decided that it was necessary to detain the vessel in Southampton until such time as the owners were able to demonstrate compliance. MCA Surveyors have made a number of follow up visits to the ship to assess progress although the ship continues to be detained at this time.

The MCA has announced their staff awards for 2010. Chief Executive Sir Alan Massey congratulated the award winning staff saying: "I am pleased to be able to present these awards to our outstanding employees;" COASTGUARD VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2010 to John Lowry from the South Down Coastguard Rescue Team in Northern Ireland for the following reasons. In an incident on 1st June 2010 involving the South Down Coastguard Rescue Team, John, the Station Officer, went ‘above and beyond’ expectations to save an angler’s life. He was first on scene to a report of an angler who had fallen in the water in Newcastle, County Down. When John and another team member arrived on scene with the first person who’d raised the alarm they could see that the man, who had been holding on to the rocks for some time, was no longer responding to calls and appeared to be losing consciousness. Because the lifeboat was still some way away John felt he had no option but to enter the water and

Press Notice No: 142-11                                                                        22 May, 2011 At 1.55 pm Aberdeen Coastguard   received a 999 call reporting a sports climber who   had fallen and was suffering from a suspected broken ankle, North of Cruden Bay adjacent to Slains Castle The 32 year old climber was at the bottom of the cliff and was walking over the rocks when he fell and injured himself. Aberdeen Coastguard called out the Cruden Bay and Peterhead Coastguard rescue teams and requested the launch of the Peterhead RNLI lifeboat. The teams lowered a cliffman with a rescue stretcher down to the man. The climber was placed into the rescue stretcher and winched back up the cliff and then taken to hospital by ambulance. Matthew Mace, Watch Manager, Aberdeen Coastguard said: Although, it may look simple and easy, cliffs can present challenging conditions.   This caller did exactly the right thing in calling for expert help from the Coastguard. Our teams are fully t

Press release: 141-11                                                         22 May 2011 At 08.11 am Humber Coastguard heard a mayday call made by a yacht called Martina who was sailing between Whitby and Scarborough. Humber coastguard responded to the vessels distress call and ascertained the nature of their distress. The crew of the yacht reported that they were in a strong sea with a southerly wind of 30-40 knots. They were not sailing but motoring and suffered engine failure. Humber Coastguard requested the launch of the Scarborough RNLI lifeboat to go to their assistance. The Coastguard rescue team from Scarborough were deployed to the clifftop to keep the vessels under observation. Subsequently, another yacht called Shameless made a 999 call to Humber Coastguard reporting that they had a man overboard from their yacht and were holding onto him at the stern of their vessel. Humber Coastguard requested a helicopter and R128 was scrambled. Whitby RNLI lifeboat was also requested

Press release: 140-11                                                         21 May 2011 At 8pm Humber Coastguard were alerted to the plight of a teenager who had descended dangerously insecure 100 feet high cliffs at Sewerby and become stuck 40 feet above the beach.   His companions on the beach initially called the Police for assistance, as the tide began to fill to the base of the cliffs.   Humber Coastguard tasked the Bridlington Coastguard Rescue Team and a helicopter from RAF Leconfield to attend.   The RNLI Flamborough Head inshore lifeboat was also requested and they arrived first on scene to locate the stricken teenager.   The RAF helicopter winched the 14 year old male to safety and delivered him into the safe hands of the Coastguard Rescue Team, who reunited him with family members. Humber Coastguard Watch Manager, Drew Mahood, said: We understand that the teenager had descended the cliff as part of a dare on his birthday, but became stuck when the gravity of his situat

Press release: 139-11                                                         21 May 2011 At 02.20 am MRCC Belfast received a call from Police Service Northern Ireland reporting that they had received a call from a lady reporting that her son had not returned from a surfing trip with a colleague. They had gone surfing at 6.00 pm yesterday evening and were due to return at 11.30 pm. Belfast immediately called out the Coleraine Coastguard rescue team and requested the launch of the Portrush RNLI lifeboat and inshore lifeboat. The Coastguard helicopter R118 from Sligo, Ireland was also scrambled. PSNI officers with dogs were also assisting in the search. A search was initiated based on the location of their car which was located at Whiterocks car park containing their personal items and their board covers. At 3.45 am this morning, the two surfers emerged from a cave. After they had gone surfing, one of the surfers sustained a head injury when thrown onto the rocks by the waves. Takin

Press release: 138-11                                                         20 May 2011 At 17:03 pm MRCC Humber received a 999 call reporting 3 female children cut off by the tide at Marsden Beach near Camel Island. Sunderland Coastguard team were called out and proceeded immediately as well as Tynemouth RNLI Inshore Lifeboat. Sunderland Coastguard located the girls from a vantage point at the top of Marsden cliffs and managed to communicate the lifeboat to their location but the girls refused to listen to the instructions from the Coastguard rescue officers and the lifeboat crew to remain where they were and started to scramble along the rocks and through some sea caves putting themselves in extreme peril. The lifeboat and Coastguard team could only standby and watch anxiously as the girls finally managed to get to a safe area where the lifeboat was able to get close enough in to confirm that there were no other casualties and that they were uninjured. Sunderland Coastguard spok

Two crew members were rescued from a liferaft south of Lulworth Cove this afternoon after their vessel started sinking and they had to abandon. At 13.50, the two crew on board the 11 metre fishing vessel ‘Rowella’ made a mayday broadcast stating that they were taking on water and sinking 3.5 miles south of Lulworth Cove.   Portland Coastguard received the mayday and sent the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Portland, along with requesting the immediate launch of the Weymouth RNLI Inshore and All Weather Lifeboats.   Portland Coastguard then relayed the mayday call, and four vessels that were in the area also proceeded to the vessel’s location. The helicopter was first to arrive on scene, and winched the two crew members to safety from the liferaft and flew them back to Portland.   The crew of the two RNLI lifeboats attempted to stabilise the vessel but unfortunately at 14.43 the boat sank. The crew members were met at the helicopter base by the Portland Bill Coastguard Rescue Of

Humber Coastguard are warning members of the public to keep dogs on leads and not to attempt self rescue should a dog go over a cliff after a man fell 200 ft this afternoon as he attempted to rescue his dog. At 2.30 pm this afternoon Humber Coastguard received a 999 call from a woman, who reported that her husband had fallen and disappeared from view whilst attempting to rescue one of her three dogs who had fallen over cliffs at Cloughton Wyke, near Scarborough. A search and rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield was diverted from exercise, and Coastguard teams from Scarborough, Burniston and Ravenscar began a search of the area. As the helicopter approached the area, Humber Coastguard was able to glean further information from the woman, so that the helicopter could be diverted to her position on the cliffs. Soon afterwards the casualty was spotted and made stable by the helicopter crew, before being taken to Scarborough Hospital. The Coastguard team from Scarborough relocated to t

At just after 3pm this afternoon the Coastguard Rescue Helicopter ‘Rescue 106’ from Portland was scrambled to the site of an aircraft crash involving a biplane near Witchampton in Dorset. The Coastguard Rescue Helicopter from Lee-on-Solent was also put on standby. The biplane, a Tiger Moth with two persons onboard had crashed in a field whilst on a flight from the nearby Compton Abbas airfield. It is believed they were also intending to return back to the same airfield.   The two men onboard were reported to be in a serious condition and were assessed on scene by paramedics from South West Ambulance service who requested immediate helicopter evacuation. Dorset Fire and Rescue Service were also on scene and assisted with the extraction of the casualties from the wreckage. One of the two casualties was airlifted by the Coastguard Helicopter to Dorset County Hospital where he was met by Wyke Regis Coastguard Rescue Officers, and the other was taken to Salisbury Hospital by the Dorset Po

Holbrook Coastguard Rescue Team are celebrating moving to their new home at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club on Saturday 14 th May at 12 noon when they will raise the Coastguard flag on the RHYC’s flagpole outside the building. The Holbrook Coastguard Rescue Service provides the UK’s coastal search and rescue capability, as part of Her Majesty’s Coastguard, from Ipswich Wet dock to White Bridge at Manningtree. The Royal Harwich Yacht Club is providing the Coastguard Rescue team with a training base, which can also be used for incident de-briefs. The Coastguard Vehicle will also be stored at the Yacht Club. Peter Creasey, Station Officer of the Holbrook Coastguard Rescue Team said: “Holbrook Coastguard Rescue Team was set-up in 1996. We’re called out around 55 times each year and being able to muster the team at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club’s Woolverstone site will be greatly assist our response. “I’d like to thank the Royal Harwich Yacht Club for accommodating us.” Tony Vagg General