DSC alert - what a faff by the coastguard

[dogleg]

We were sailing from Harwich back to the Blackwater yesterday. It was fairly windy and rough. A DSC distress alarm went of and I accepted it. 7.4 miles away on Cork Sand. An anxious lady called the coastguard not following a standard Mayday call but just Mayday, we are aground keel hitting the ground and can you hear me.

Dover coastguard then went through all the things on a Mayday call, name of vessel, position etc etc. Asked the position twice. I could see that (isn't this a big part of the point on DSC) asked her spell the boat name even though it was a clear English word. Husband could be heard shouting Indigo etc in the background. All this took ages. He asked for their MMSI which was showing on the distress message. Eventually he asked what assistance do you require? We want towing off! Much discussion about were they taking on water etc. At last he tasks Harwich lifeboat. Lifeboat calls them to say they are approaching and she says are you the big orange boat? Yep. Lifeboat then ascertains that they are now afloat, gets them to check water ingress, engine running ok etc.

What a performance but wouldn't a local coastguard have known the spot, what the tide was doing and that that would soon be off. Why ask the position when DSC has told them.? Does the spelling of an English word help a distressed radio operator?

You may of course ask why a yacht did not know they were heading for Cork Sand and the tide was fairly low. But my concern was that the DSC alert did not seem to have helped the coastguard. It helped another vessel offer to go and standby and for us to see distance and bearing to the casualty. We do miss local coastguards with local knowledge.

heard all this as well agree with your view as such but while all this was going on the LB had already been paged shortly after the initial call

 

[MoodySabre]

heard all this as well agree with your view as such but while all this was going on the LB had already been paged shortly after the initial call

It would have been nice if they had told her that earlier.

 

[Genoa]

heard all this as well agree with your view as such but while all this was going on the LB had already been paged shortly after the initial call

Great to hear that someone tasked a LB without having spelt the boats name with perfect phonetics.

 

[Giblets]

Perhaps those of you going to SIBS could make a visit to the CG stand and ask the questions raised in this thread.

 

[girlofwight]

I suspect most of us wince a little at some of, what seem to be, the newer Coastguard radio officers, who seem to be checklisting. In fairness some of the older ones are a lot more engaging and give an air of understanding.

My worry is the lack of local knowledge. I’ve heard them casualty working, one of the Wightlink ferries calls up and offers assistance, CGs reply, “what type of vessel are you”. Perhaps I’m being nostalgic but they ought to know the large commercial operators in their patch.

Of more concern one of the Yarmouth Lymington ferries came into Yarmouth last year with an engine fire and injured crew, and needed medical and fire attendance. By any ones call, a major incident. MAIB report published recently. CG telephone Cowes, not Yarmouth, and reported the incident. It was only because the master had moby of HM that precious minutes were not lost.

 

[Giblets]

My worry is the lack of local knowledge. I’ve heard them casualty working, one of the Wightlink ferries calls up and offers assistance, CGs reply, “what type of vessel are you”. Perhaps I’m being nostalgic but they ought to know the large commercial operators in their patch.

As I believe I have mentioned before on the forums, depending on volume of working traffic, the emergency call could be handled by CG operators as far away as Aberdeen which the casualty would not be aware of. Hence the requirement for a lat and long for the position. Also quite possible that the Aberdeen operator would not know the intimate details of commercial operators in The Solent.

 

[girlofwight]

Yeah, I get that. It’s a regrettable in my view, though. I agree not uncommon in public services, and a false economy a lot of the time.

 

[NormanS]

As I believe I have mentioned before on the forums, depending on volume of working traffic, the emergency call could be handled by CG operators as far away as Aberdeen which the casualty would not be aware of. Hence the requirement for a lat and long for the position. Also quite possible that the Aberdeen operator would not know the intimate details of commercial operators in The Solent.

And are you defending that situation?

 

[Giblets]

And are you defending that situation?

No, just making a comment that some people may not be aware of.

 

[[70521]]

heard all this as well agree with your view as such but while all this was going on the LB had already been paged shortly after the initial call

So the system is working, processes happening in parallel.

The crew will need to stop what they are doing, get to the station and launch. Meanwhile the CG can collect all the details they need.

 

[dogleg]

So the system is working, processes happening in parallel.

The crew will need to stop what they are doing, get to the station and launch. Meanwhile the CG can collect all the details they need.

generally when situation is urgent they are usually quick paging rescue assets while info is gathered, with us it is often the less urgent ones where there is a delay , once this year it took a hour for a launch request to come which made the eventual service slightly more complicated