Two fishermen rescued at Dunbar harbour

TWO fishermen had to be rescued by lifeboat crews after becoming stranded outside Dunbar harbour.

Lifeboats responded to the call in Dunbar

The unnamed vessel had lost power, with a hole on its starboard side and had drifted onto the rocks at Johnston’s Hole.

The alarm was raised at 12.35pm on yesterday and within five minutes Dunbar’s D class in-shore lifeboat (ILB) Jimmy Miff had reached the stricken vessel.

When the volunteer crew arrived, they found one of the men holding the boat from drifting further with the second man still inside.

The pair said they had only launched to go fishing half an hour earlier when they were caught out by a fast moving tide.

As they tried to stop the boat hitting the rocks their engine failed, forcing them to ring Dunbar Harbour for help.

The ILB crew moved the boat off the rocks, towed the boat safely back to the harbour and helped it onto a trailer.

Water was clearly running from holes in the starboard side once it was lifted from the harbour.

Neither man was wearing a lifejacket, although one insisted he was wearing a flotation aid and said there was one jacket on board.

The men were also without a VHF radio and had relied on a mobile phone to raise the alarm.

Dunbar lifeboat coxswain Gary Fairbairn said the call out showed how vital it was for anyone taking to the water to make sure they had the right equipment and knew what to do in an emergency situation.

Gary said: “It’s important people not only take lifejackets, but wear them. They should have a working VHF radio to alert the coastguard in times of trouble or dial 999 in an emergency, rather than calling the harbour. The RNLI’s ‘Respect the Water’ campaign is all about raising awareness of safety – and today’s incident highlight just how vital it is that people take the right precautions.”

After the incident the ILB returned to the boathouse and was refuelled and ready for service within twenty minutes.