lydiamight
Well-Known Member
Doesn't exactly give the best of messages to the non-boating community. The MCA might also have used a less attention grabbing headline than "Two young men LOST in speedboat" My first thought was that they had drowned.
Monday 17 July 2006 00:20
Maritime And Coastguard Agency (National)
TWO YOUNG MEN LOST IN SPEEDBOAT ON THAMES ESTUARY
At twenty minutes to nine this evening, Thames Coastguard received a 999 call made from a mobile telephone owned by one of two young men reporting being lost in a speedboat on the Thames Estuary.
The two men had made their way out of Maldon, on the River Blackwater heading for Burnham on Crouch, when they got lost and had run aground on one of the numerous sandbanks in the Thames Estuary.
By the time they had made their call daylight was fading, the two did not know where they were, and their mobile phone battery had gone dead. Fortunately Thames Coastguard had managed to obtain some information from the two with regard to what they could see around them.
Thames Coastguard called out Coastguard rescue teams from Margate, Southend and Herne Bay. Five RNLI lifeboats from Sheerness, Walton, Whitstable, and Margate. A RAF helicopter was also scrambled from Wattisham, who successfully located the two using their infra-red camera. They were winched off the speedboat uninjured and landed at Southend Airport to be met by their parents.
The two men are aged twenty and twenty one and come from Chelmsford.
Keith Cattermole, Watch manager, Thames Coastguard said:
"This incident highlights once again, resources being called out to rescue persons ill equipped for the journey they are undertaking.
These two men were out on the water, with very little life saving apparatus. They had lifejackets, but were not carrying any flares, charts, anchor or a marine VHF radio to talk direct to the coastguard.
A mobile phone is not a suitable replacement for a marine VHF radio for distress communications on the water."
Press releases and further information about the Agency is available on the Web at http://www.mcga.gov.uk
Client ref Duty Notice 2
GNN
Monday 17 July 2006 00:20
Maritime And Coastguard Agency (National)
TWO YOUNG MEN LOST IN SPEEDBOAT ON THAMES ESTUARY
At twenty minutes to nine this evening, Thames Coastguard received a 999 call made from a mobile telephone owned by one of two young men reporting being lost in a speedboat on the Thames Estuary.
The two men had made their way out of Maldon, on the River Blackwater heading for Burnham on Crouch, when they got lost and had run aground on one of the numerous sandbanks in the Thames Estuary.
By the time they had made their call daylight was fading, the two did not know where they were, and their mobile phone battery had gone dead. Fortunately Thames Coastguard had managed to obtain some information from the two with regard to what they could see around them.
Thames Coastguard called out Coastguard rescue teams from Margate, Southend and Herne Bay. Five RNLI lifeboats from Sheerness, Walton, Whitstable, and Margate. A RAF helicopter was also scrambled from Wattisham, who successfully located the two using their infra-red camera. They were winched off the speedboat uninjured and landed at Southend Airport to be met by their parents.
The two men are aged twenty and twenty one and come from Chelmsford.
Keith Cattermole, Watch manager, Thames Coastguard said:
"This incident highlights once again, resources being called out to rescue persons ill equipped for the journey they are undertaking.
These two men were out on the water, with very little life saving apparatus. They had lifejackets, but were not carrying any flares, charts, anchor or a marine VHF radio to talk direct to the coastguard.
A mobile phone is not a suitable replacement for a marine VHF radio for distress communications on the water."
Press releases and further information about the Agency is available on the Web at http://www.mcga.gov.uk
Client ref Duty Notice 2
GNN
