VESTURVARDI VA214

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Trawler towed troubled colleagues to port

The 'Aalskere-K 375' towed the Banff registered whitefish trawler 'Enterprise II' (IMO: 9198795), which had lost power on Oct 22, 2021, evening, and had been drifting overnight as other vessels nearby attempted to restore power or take her under tow in worsening weather conditions. The trawler with six crew members onboard had started taking on water in the morning as weather conditions continued to deteriorate, with winds gusting up to gale force 8. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency requested the Aith Lifeboat to launch just before7 a.m., and the boat headed to the position 50 miles west of Scalloway to assess the situation at sea. The MCA’s rescue helicopter had also landed extra pumping equipment onboard the trawler to help drain the water. The lifeboat 'Charles Lidbury' arrived alongside the trawler by 09.50 a.m., and the 'Aalskere' managed to establish a tow line shortly after. The Lifeboat crew was tasked with monitoring the towing operation, and shadowed both fishing vessels safely back to Scalloway by 11.45 p.m. Spare torches, batteries and an extra handheld VHF radio were passed over to the trawler crew during the tow as the vessel had lost power completely. The RNLI crew returned to the lifeboat pier in Aith after a 20 hour long operation. Also the standby vessel 'Grampian Dynamic' and the nearby trawler 'Norlan' worked with the emergency services and RNLI volunteers to offer standby safety cover. Report with photo: https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2021/october/22/aith-rnli-see-fishing-crew-towed-to-safety