Rescue: 23rd June 2007, MV Gaynor J 006-07
Lifeboat Rushes to Sinking Vessel

The Staithes & Runswick RNLI lifeboat launched at 7:30pm on Saturday evening after a motor vessel reported it was sinking.

The skipper of ‘Gaynor J’, a 25-foot motorboat with three people onboard, called Humber Coastguard to say the boat had hit a submerged object and was taking on water. The boat was on passage from Hartlepool to Whitby but at the time of the incident the crew were unsure of their position.

Humber Coastguard asked them to describe what landmarks they could see and they replied: ‘A large chimney with white smoke’. This was most likely to be the chimney at Boulby Potash Mine and so the lifeboat headed in that direction.

At about 7:40pm the lifeboat located the vessel but the skipper stated that they were not sinking after all and that all was well and they were carrying on to Whitby. The lifeboat crew checked the outside of the vessel and could see no damage above the waterline. As a precaution the ‘Gaynor J’ was escorted to Whitby by the lifeboat where they were met by the local coastguard.

“It is a frantic feeling when a boat has reported that it is sinking but you don’t know where it is. If the boat was equipped with flares they could have fired one and the lifeboat crew would have spotted it straight away. You can buy an inshore flare pack from £40. We would urge all boat owners to get the right safety equipment”.

— Lee Jackson, a Staithes Lifeboat Helmsman

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