Two Unprepared Fishermen

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Posted 00:19 GMT

Monday evening two lucky men and their rib are being towed to Kirkwall, after their rib broke down on their fishing expedition.

At 8:20pm Shetland Coastguard received a call saying that a rib had gone aground off the Dull Flag on the west side of Papa Westray, Orkney.

The rib had two people on board and was aground on a rock ledge about 20 feet from the shore.

A small passenger boat Amaranth from Westray offered assistance and the Kirkwall RNLI all weather lifeboat was requested to launch by Shetland Coastguard. Westray Coastguard Rescue team was tasked to keep a watch on the situation and relay any communications.

Amaranth was unable to pass a line so stood by until the lifeboat had the rib under tow at 2210.

Alex Dodge, Shetland Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said:

The two people on board the rib had earlier in the day dropped a passenger off at Westray; their intention then was to go fishing for mackerel, off Noup Head around the west of Westray. However, their main engine broke down and they ran into problems when they hit a skerry with their small outboard. The VHF radio on board had only a small aerial and no one could hear their calls for assistance. We understand there were no flares or lifejackets on board.

They were very lucky that a member of the public saw their situation and called for help.

This situation shows that having the appropriate equipment onboard can save your life.

When you go to sea ensure that your vessel is in good condition, there is more than one means of propulsion, you should have a VHF marine band radio, marine flares as another method of indicating distress, lifejackets are essential and useless unless worn and you have warm clothing aboard.

For further details contact:
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency Press Office
023 8032 9401