April 22 2013.


Volunteers from Newhaven's RNLI lifeboat station were launched yesterday at 08:10 by Solent Coastguard to a report of a 24ft fishing vessel with two persons on board which was in danger of sinking six miles South South East (SSE) of Newhaven.

Newhaven's Severn Class lifeboat 'RNLB David and Elizabeth Acland' made full speed to the scene. Once alongside the two persons on board the casualty boat were transferred onto the lifeboat. Two lifeboat crew then went on board the stricken vessel with a salvage pump to tackle the ingress of water.

Once the ingress was stemmed using the salvage pump, a tow was established and the casualty was taken to its home port of Brighton Marina. At the entrance of Brighton Marina, Brighton's RNLI Atlantic Inshore lifeboat took over the tow taking the casualty vessel through the lock where she was safely lifted out of the water.
 
Newhaven lifeboat then returned to station and was ready for service at 12:30.
 
Newhaven lifeboat Coxswain Paul Legendre explained: "Without our intervention today there is little doubt that this vessel would have been lost. Thankfully the crew on the casualty had a VHF radio to raise the alarm and alert other vessels to stand by should they have needed to abandon their vessel before we arrived."