In the early hours of Thursday 25 April, the volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew from Donaghadee lifeboat station received a call from HM Coastguard to launch a rescue mission. A 40ft fishing trawler with one person onboard had contacted the Coastguard to report that they had no electrics, although they did have power and steering. The skipper was not confident of their location and thought they may be in Belfast Lough.
The Coastguard activated the pagers of the Donaghadee lifeboat crew to request them to launch. With a crew of seven onboard RNLI lifeboat Macquarie, the team was underway seven minutes later. The sea state was calm, and there was a light westerly wind, allowing them to make full speed in the general direction of the trawler's last reported location, just north of Portpatrick.
As the trawler had no electrics, it also had no navigation lights, leaving the boat with its skipper at risk of not being visible to a larger vessel at sea and restricting its own visibility. The Coastguard liaised with the crew on the lifeboat and reported an up-to-date rough latitude and longitude from the fishing trawler, enabling them to have a more accurate direction to take.
Iain Kaleda, mechanic onboard the lifeboat, was able to establish both phone contact and later VHF contact with the skipper. As the skipper had a handheld VHF onboard, this allowed the crew of the lifeboat to use their direction-finding equipment to gain a more exact location for the trawler.
At 3:15 a.m., the vessel was located approximately 18 miles north of Donaghadee. The crew established that the skipper was safe and well. It was agreed that, given that he still had no electrics, it was best that they escorted him to the safety of Bangor marina.
However, at approximately 5.30 am, the trawler lost engine power, and with still quite a way to go to the safety of the marina, and given the danger to both the vessel and other shipping in the area, the coxswain of the lifeboat decided that it was best to secure a towline to the fishing trawler and tow it with its skipper to safety.
After towing for about an hour, the lifeboat and the casualty vessel arrived at the safety of Bangor marina, where they were met by Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team and Bangor marina's local cat.
