OCEAN HARVEST FY12

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Trawler sank after fire - crew safe

The "FY12 - Ocean Harvest" caught fire on July 16, 2019, around 3.25 p.m. The watchkeeper of the RNLI Penlee spotted a huge plume of smoke approximately four miles SE of the watch. He immediately dialled 999, asked for Coastguard and passed a ‘Mayday Relay’ of a suspected vessel on fire, along with relevant location information. At about the same time, the "Shearwater II", a wildlife trip boat operated by Marine Discovery Penzance, was in the area and passed a similar message by VHF radio. In fact, the plume of smoke was so large that Falmouth Coastguard (FCG) then started receiving multiple 999 calls from many different places along the coast. The FCG requested the RNLIO watchkeeper to monitor the situation and keep them informed of any developments whilst they tasked the Sennen and Penlee all-weather lifeboats to the stricken vessel’s aid In the meantime, the "Shearwater II" had spotted two crewmen abandoning their trawler to a life raft. Since the vessel was blazing fiercely, the "Shearwater II" took the life raft in a tow and moved it away to a safe distance, a wise precaution since the flames caused at least one on-board canister to explode. Whilst this was ongoing, our watchkeeper ensured that the FCG were kept updated The two fishermen were then transferred to the Penlee lifeboat and taken ashore in Newlyn unharmed, whilst the FCG declared a ½ nautical mile exclusion zone around the still-blazing vessel which later sank. Both the Sennen and Newlyn lifeboats then remained on scene for a period of time to monitor the situation and warn off any other vessels. Reports with photo and video: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/footage-shows-huge-fire-board-3099813 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-49005895 https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/rescuers-tell-drama-explosion-fire-3100618 https://news.yahoo.com/crew-rescued-after-boat-sinks-off-lands-end-cornwall-125436232.html https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/two-men-rescued-life-raft-3099257 https://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/read-this/dramatic-footage-shows-huge-fire-that-sunk-fishing-boat-leaving-two-men-clinging-to-life-raft-484780