Whitby lifeboat called as boat starts taking on water off coast of Staithes

The volunteer crew had an early start on Wednesday February7, when the pagers sounded at 7.20am

The Shannon class lifeboat was launched immediately to locate the casualties, who had alerted the coastguard that they were taking on water due to machinery failure.

The vessel was found about 15 nautical miles from Whitby, off the coast of Staithes.

Richard Dowson, who was coxswain on the shout, said: “Thankfully, the fishermen had a pump on board and had managed to pump out most of the water, they also managed to fix the initial problem.

"However it was decided that the safest course of action was to escort them back to Whitby harbour where they could ensure that the equipment was safe to use.”

An RNLI crew member remained on board with a salvage pump to assist the crews in case the boat began to take on more water.

“Incidents like this one are a good reminder to check safety equipment regularly and keep it maintained as you never know when you might need to use it,” added Mr Dowson.

“If the crew hadn’t had a salvage pump and radio on board it could have been a very different outcome.”

The vessel was returned to Whitby Harbour where the crew obtained repairs at the boat yard before heading back to their home port.