RNLI Rescues Wind Farm Support Vessel Crewmember

On Tuesday, the RNLI Barrow Lifeboat Station’s volunteer crew launched their all-weather lifeboat to go to the aid of an injured crewman aboard a wind farm support vessel.

The request to launch came from the HM Coastguard base in Holyhead, Wales at 1650 hours. The Coastguard had received a request for assistance from the wind farm guard vessel Fairline Surveyor, which was operating south of an offshore wind farm run by Orsted, the West of Duddon Sands project. The vessel’s master reported that one of the crewmen on board had sustained a serious hand injury which required urgent treatment.

The volunteer crew was summoned and the all-weather lifeboat Grace Dixon was launched at 1705 hours under the command of coxswain Shaun Charnley, assisted by a crew of six.

The lifeboat made full speed to rendezvous with the Fairline Surveyor at a position about six miles south west of Walney Island. The injured crewman was transferred to the lifeboat where his condition was assessed by the lifeboat’s medical team during the passage back to Barrow. The decision was made to take the casualty to the Deep Water Berth pontoon at Barrow Port, where the Furness Coastguard team was waiting to transport him to Furness General Hospital.

The lifeboat then stood down, and it returned to the boathouse at 1915 hours.