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Trawler towed to Portsmouth with engine failure

The volunteer Selsey lifeboat crew came to the aid of the"Eridan" that had suffered total machinery failure eight miles out to sea on Jan 24, 2016. The trawler had been out fishing when it sent out the distress call at 2.08 a.m. Because of the machinery failure, 230 metres of net that was still in the water and streaming out of the stern of the vessel had to be released. It was anchored to the sea bed and buoyed for later recovery. When the four-person crew aboard the "Eridan" had finished releasing the net at 4.10 a.m., a tow was established with the now neighbouring Selsey lifeboat and because of its size a decision was made to tow it to Portsmouth. Communications were poor during the whole incident due to the language barrier, and some messages had to be relayed via the French maritime organisation, the Cross Gris Nez. Due to the tide, wet weather and rough seas, as well as the size of "Eridan", towing was slow. At 8 a.m. the UK Coastguard requested the "Eridan" to anchor in its position at that time, around six miles south west of Selsey Bill, and the tow be released by the lifeboat from Selsey. At 07:50 a.m. the All Weather Lifeboat "Alfred Albert Williams" was launched at the request of Solent Coastguard to relieve the Selsey RNLI boat. Once the Bembridge boat was on scene, it transpired that the trawler skipper’s brother was about 30 miles away and was planning on towing the casualty to Portsmouth for repairs. After a considerable delay, the tow was eventually established and the "Alfred Albert Williams" followed close by to provide safety and communications cover; the latter having been particularly difficult from the outset as they had no working VHF and mobile phone link had been via the French Coastguard to the UK Coastguard. Reports with photos: http://www.islandecho.co.uk/news/all-day-shout-for-bembridge-rnli http://www.chichester.co.uk/news/local/selsey-lifeboat-comes-to-aid-of-stricken-french-trawler-1-7179048#ixzz3yLolzx4M