Pregnant woman and partner rescued from upturned trimaran

Two people were taken to hospital by helicopter this afternoon after their trimaran capsized one nautical mile off Dungeness Point. Dover Coastguard received a report from a member of the public at 3.00 pm that two people were in the water, clinging to the upturned hull.

The Coastguard contacted the HM Customs cutter, ‘Valiant’ which was already out on the water. They were able to get to the vessel within minutes and as they neared it, spotted a red flare which had been fired. The cutter stood by the vessel, ensuring the safety of those in the water and marking the upturned hull. Meanwhile the Coastguard had requested the Dungeness RNLI lifeboat to launch and the couple were picked up from the water and brought to shore, then taken to William Harvey Hospital by the rescue helicopter from RAF Watisham. They were cold and shaken by the ordeal but otherwise unharmed.

Bob Giles, Dover Coastguard Watch Manager said:
“The couple were thrown into the water after their vessel capsized. Both were wearing lifejackets and the man, ensured that his partner was safe, then tied a rope around himself and dived under the vessel to retrieve a flare so that he could alert rescuers to their position. Because they had AIS (automatic identification system) on board they were easy to locate and so were rescued quickly.
“The member of the public who made the first call to the Coastguard did exactly the right thing by calling 999 and asking for the Coastguard. It meant that we were able to get rescuers to the scene within minutes of the vessel capsizing.”



The hull of the upturned trimaran from which the couple were rescued.

Popular posts from this blog

Label your kit at the coast

Image
Kayaks. Canoes. Paddleboards. What do they all have in common? They’re quite often found on the coastline or drifting out to sea. And if we don’t know who they belong to, we can spend time searching for an owner when they’re home safe and sound. So please help us to help you. Label your kit so that if you do get separated from it, and it turns up somewhere, we can get hold of you. In recent weeks, our Coastguard Rescue Teams have found numerous items such as kayaks and canoes drifting out at sea or abandoned near the shoreline. Unfortunately, some of the items we have found have not had their owners’ contact details written on them nor been reported as missing to the Coastguard. As a result, it makes it difficult for us to find out who it belongs to and also means we can never be completely sure if someone is safe or in the worst case, in trouble at sea. This can place a huge strain on our resources especially during the busy summer period when we have to call upon our Coastgua
Read more

A short history of HM Coastguard

Image
Today HM Coastguard is a world leader in maritime search and rescue. Looking back almost 200 years, the goods, which now travel by road, were carried by hundreds of small ships. Year in year out dozens of ships and hundreds of lives were lost within sight of the coast. Public shock and dismay at the tragedies drove forward the creation of national life saving organisations. Though it’s beginnings lie in those decades HM Coastguard originated not to meet the dangers of the seas but to combat a threat to the country’s economy and security – smuggling. As soon as medieval taxes were charged on imports and exports, people began smuggling. By 1743 th e estimate was that half the tea drunk in Britain was illegally imported and shows that smuggling was highly profitable. Smugglers have often been romanticised but the reality was brutal. Local people lived in fear, with violent reprisals on informers and the murder of revenue officers, while corruption enabled smugglers to evade harsh p
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he
Read more