On Monday 10 March, RNLI volunteer lifeboat crews from five lifeboat stations assisted in a major incident following the collision of two vessels, the Solong and Stena Immaculate off the coast of East Yorkshire.
RNLI Head of Region for the North and East, George Pickford, said: ‘We are incredibly proud of our crews who continue to respond selflessly to their pagers, day or night, to save lives at sea.
‘We want to say a huge thank you to our Bridlington, Cleethorpes, Humber, Mablethorpe and Skegness volunteers who answered the call for help, transferring casualties between vessels to be safely returned to shore and assisting in the search for the missing crew member from the Solong. We recognise their courage and dedication as they spent hours out at sea, facing challenging conditions.
‘The coordinated effort between the RNLI, HM Coastguard, Windcat vessels, ABP Humber and other nearby vessels demonstrated the lifesaving impact of working together and we want to thank them for their incredible work.
‘Our thoughts remain with the family and loved ones of the missing crew member.’
Following the incident, RNLI crew members have shared their first-hand accounts of the incident including Davina Silk, volunteer crew member at Mablethorpe RNLI. She said: ‘I am still processing the events of the incident, and it all seems rather surreal. One minute I was on a food safety training course at work, the next I was in the North Sea on our lifeboat surrounded by numerous lifesaving assets.
‘The scale of the operation is one that I have never witnessed before and don’t know if I will again. My fellow lifeboat crew members were amazing and worked tirelessly. Each volunteer played to their strengths and the teamwork that they demonstrated was seamless. Our training kicked in immediately and thankfully we were able to rescue multiple casualties. I was so proud to be part of the crew and to work with the other agencies as well. It’s a day that I will never forget.’
Bridlington RNLI Station Mechanic, AJ Shepherd, said: ‘We launched our Shannon class lifeboatAntony Patrick Jones to assist with the call. It was a real team effort working with volunteers from our neighbouring stations and other partner agencies.
‘Our charity’s lifeboat crews regularly train to hone their lifesaving skills. Such training prepares us for a variety of situations like this incident.’
Craig Willard was coxswain on the Skegness all-weather lifeboat during the incident. He said: ‘Fortunately, it’s not often that we are asked to attend incidents of this scale and when the request came in from the Coastguard, the urgency of the situation was immediately obvious.
‘It’s a credit to the volunteer crew here at Skegness and our colleagues at other RNLI stations involved, that as an organisation we’re able to respond with speed and professionalism. Training and hard work from all involved was apparent by the way the situation was handled.
‘As a station, we are proud of all those who were involved, both search and rescue professionals and civilian workers who use the North Sea daily. They truly came together for their fellow sailors.’
Humber Volunteer crew member Stephen Gibbons said: ‘Our training gives our crews the confidence and skillset to face a wide range of search and rescue scenarios. When we were tasked to the incident with our RNLI colleagues and commercial vessels, our training became second nature.’
‘The charity would not be able to operate or respond to such incidents without our wonderful and generous supporters.’
Cleethorpes RNLI volunteer, Sam Grice, said: ‘We’re incredibly proud of the collective effort and multi-agency collaboration that brings to life our shared commitment to saving lives at sea.’
Main Photo: Mike Milner/ RNLI.
