Eastbourne RNLI respond to Mayday call

A spokesperson from the RNLI said, ”At 12.45pm on Saturday, June 12, Eastbourne RNLI was paged to assist a 36ft Motor cruiser with two people on board that had started taking on water five miles south east of Sovereign Harbour and had issued a Mayday call.

“Upon arriving at the motor cruiser coxswain Mark Sawyer made the decision to transfer two volunteer RNLI crew members, Alex Emberley and Dave Needham, onto the motor cruiser along with the lifeboat salvage pump.

“Due to the amount of water on board the motor cruiser the salvage pump was put into use straight away and an assessment of the situation was made.”

Once the water was pumped out and it was confirmed no more was being taken in while the engine was off, the decision was made to tow the motor cruiser to Sovereign using the lifeboat with the two RNLI crew and salvage pump still on board.

The spokesperson praised the ‘prompt and efficient’ action from the boat’s captain while Solent Coastguard coordinated a quick response to the situation.

RNLI Coxswain Mr Sawyer also extended his gratitude to the other vessels in the area that responded to the Mayday call and stood by until the lifeboat arrived.

He said, “The skipper of the motor cruiser did exactly the right thing by calling HM Coastguard as soon as they knew they were in difficultly.

“It meant we were able to start pumping at the earliest opportunity – saving the vessel but more importantly making sure those on board were safe.”