Queensferry RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew were called out in the early hours of Thursday 18 April to assist a 33ft motor vessel which had suffered a mechanical breakdown and was drifting to the west of the Forth Road Bridge.
The lifeboat Jimmie Cairncross was launched at 12.35am. The casualty vessel was quickly located and found to be aground on a sand bank to the west of Port Edgar Marina.
Two lifeboat crew members boarded the casualty vessel to ensure the two men on board, aged 60 and 64, didn’t require any medical attention and that there was no damage to their boat. A towline was established and the casualty vessel was eased off the sand bank and towed to Port Edgar Marina.
The Queensferry Coastguard rescue team had also been called out and assisted with mooring the vessel in the marina. The lifeboat crew returned to station just before 2am.
Queensferry RNLI volunteer Helmsman Derek Sutton said: ‘This rescue was made slightly trickier because of the low tide and the close proximity to the construction works for the new Forth Bridge. We had to be careful as there are unlit buoys and underwater cables in that area. The skipper did the right thing by radioing the Coastguard and requesting assistance as soon he got into difficulties.’
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