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Shoreham Volunteer RNLI Crew Saves Life After Fishing Vessel Sinks

Shoreham's Tamar Class Lifeboat, the Enid Collett (Photo: © RNLI)

Volunteer RNLI lifeboat crews from Shoreham rescued a fisherman from the water, saving his life, after his boat overturned and sank — and no lifejacket was available.

The all weather and inshore lifeboats were both launched just before 10.30am yesterday (26 July) to a report that a vessel had been spotted by the Shoreham National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) sinking 0.75 miles south of Shoreham Harbour.

They discovered debris in the water — and one of the crew on the all weather lifeboat spotted a man without a lifejacket, and in the water trying to stay afloat.

He was recovered from the water and confirmed he was the only person on the 33ft fishing vessel before it sank. 

The casualty was transferred to the inshore lifeboat and quickly taken back to the lifeboat station to be further assessed and warmed up.

The all weather lifeboat remained in the area to investigate and recover all the debris from the water. 

The man, whose identity is not being released, said:

“I can’t thank the lifeboat crew enough. They saved my life.”

It was the first service for Shoreham’s newly qualified lifeboat coxswain-mechanic Simon Williams.

Simon said:

“The fisherman didn’t even have to time to make a Mayday call because his boat sank so quickly.

"He was extremely lucky it was seen by the NCI who alerted the coastguard and we found him in the water.

"He had already been there about 20 minutes and didn’t have a life jacket.

“We are just glad we were able to respond and it was a positive outcome.”

The RNLI continues to operates over 230 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and in a normal year, more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK.

It is independent of H.M. Coastguard and government, and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service.

Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 137,000 lives. 

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