The volunteer crew from Barrow Lifeboat Station of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) were called out late last night to respond to a Mayday alert from a fishing vessel in the Irish Sea. The call for assistance came in at 9:50 pm from the regional HM Coastguard base in Holyhead.

The crew of the all-weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was paged and launched at 10:00 pm under the command of Coxswain Shaun Charnley, assisted by six crew members. The vessel in distress, “Lady Helen”, was located at a position 30 miles west of Barrow, and the Grace Dixon arrived on the scene at 11:15 pm.

Another vessel nearby, “Fairline Surveyor”, managed to take the five crew members off the casualty vessel to ensure their safety. A sister vessel to the “Lady Helen”, the “Anne Mary B”, had also sailed from Fleetwood to go and assist. The Barrow and Douglas lifeboats assessed the condition of the casualty, and it was agreed that the “Anne Mary B” could take the “Lady Helen” under tow back to Fleetwood.

The Barrow lifeboat then transferred the rescued crew members from the “Fairline Surveyor”, and at 1:57 am, they were in turn transferred to the Anne Mary B. The lifeboat was stood down shortly after 2:00 am and returned to the Roa Island Boathouse at 3:20 am, where it was rehoused by the waiting shore crew and washed down in preparation for the next launch.

The weather conditions at the time of the incident were misty, with easterly winds at Force 2, and the sea state was slight. The high tide was at 8:53 pm, with a height of 8.0 metres.

The RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea, and its volunteer crew members are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Barrow Lifeboat Station is one of many RNLI stations around the UK and Ireland, and its crews regularly respond to calls for help from people in distress at sea. Their bravery and dedication to saving lives are greatly appreciated by the communities they serve.

Pictures courtesy of Barrow Lifeboat.