Two Swedish nationals have been rescued from their liferaft 55 miles northeast of Dover, after their yacht started to sink late yesterday evening.
Dover Coastguard received a faint Mayday at 2330 from the two-man crew of the yacht Atlanta, stating they were going to take to their life raft as the vessel was taking on water and starting to list.
Using radar and Automatic Identification System (AIS), Dover Coastguard were able to plot the yacht and identify if there were any other vessels in the nearby area that could assist the casualties. Thames Coastguard assisted jointly with the search and rescue by scrambling a Rescue helicopter from RAF Wattisham and tasking its Felixstowe mobile unit.
Ted Ingham, watch manager, Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said: “The Ro-Ro vessel Louise Russ that operates from Tilbury to Rotterdam was nearby the yacht Atlanta and on request from Dover Coastguard was able to locate the flare and pick up the two crew who had abandoned to their life raft.
“The two casualties are safe and well and did not need any medical attention. They were flown back to the air base, where they were met by Coastguard Rescue Officers from Felixstowe. The yacht is listing badly and is now semi-submerged. It is thought that it will not be long before it has sunk completely in deep water.
“The search and rescue was a joint effort with Thames Coastguard as this incident was on the extreme range of communication for both Dover and us. One more mile out and the incident would have fallen into the Belgium range. Having the use of radar and AIS enabled us to rescue the two crew who were on the extreme limit of radio VHF coverage.”
