GV FAIRLINESURVEYOR

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Medevac off Duddon Sands

The Barrow Lifeboat Station’s volunteer crew launched their all-weather lifeboat in the afternoon of June 25, 2019, to go to the aid of an injured crewman aboard the "Fairline Surveyor". The request to launch came from the HM Coastguard base in Holyhead at 4.50 p.m. The Coastguard had received a request for assistance from the wind farm guard vessel which was south of the West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm. The vessel’s Master reported that one of the crewmen on board had sustained a serious hand injury that required urgent treatment. The crew was paged and the all-weather lifeboat, ‘Grace Dixon’, was launched at 5. 05 p.m. under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, assisted by a crew of six. The lifeboat proceeded at full speed to rendezvous with the ‘Fairline Surveyor’ approximately 6 miles south west of Walney Island. The injured crewman was transferred to the lifeboat where his condition was assessed by the lifeboat’s medical team during the passage back to Barrow. The decision was made to take the casualty to the Deep Water Berth pontoon at Barrow Port where the Furness Coastguard team was waiting to transport him to Furness General Hospital. The lifeboat was then stood down and returned to the boathouse at 7. 15 p.m. where it was cleaned and made ready for the next launch. The wind at the time of the incident was northerly, Force 2-3, and the high tide was at 5-53pm with a predicted height of 7.1 metres.

Guard ship saved crew of sinking trimaran

The "Fairline Surveyor" jointly with the "Grace Dixon" of the RNLI Barrow station and a helicopter came to the aid of the crew of a trimaran which had issued a Mayday distress call on June 21, 2018, at 9.52 a.m. A call for assistance came from HM Coastguard at Holyhead with the information that a 26-foot trimaran with two men on board was sinking. The location of the stricken vessel was given as approximately 12 miles west south-west of Walney Island. The lifeboat crew was paged and the all weather lifeboat was launched at 10.03 a.m. under the command of Coxswain, Shaun Charnley, assisted by a crew of six. A further four volunteer crew members responded to the call-out. The distress call from the trimaran had also alerted other vessels in the area with up to seven vessels standing by at one stage. The lifeboat proceeded to the scene and the Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 936 was also tasked to attend. In the meantime, the "Fairline Surveyor" was able to get close enough to the sinking vessel and retrieve the two crew of the trimaran from the water. The casualties were then assessed on board the "Fairline Surveyor" and both were uninjured. They were then airlifted from the vessel to Walney Airfield by Rescue 936 which was deemed to be safer than attempting to transfer the casualties to the lifeboat in the difficult sea conditions. The Furness Coastguard was called to attend at Walney Airfield where they collected the two casualties and took them to the Lifeboat Station. The crew of the lifeboat were then able to reunite the casualties with some of their possessions that had been passed to them from the "Fairline Surveyor". The "Grace Dixon" returned to the lifeboat station at 12.25 p.m. where it was made ready for the next launch. The wind at the time of the incident was north-westerly, Force 6-7. Report with photos: https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2018/june/21/barrow-lifeboat-called-to-assist-crew-of-sinking-yacht-in-the-east-irish-sea