The jet-propelled offshore boat was called out by the coastguard in the early hours of Tuesday morning following a mayday call from a cargo vessel in trouble approximately 50 miles of the coast of Yarmouth.
The distress call came from the Black Pearl after its cargo of timber began to shift in the gale force weather causing the ship to lean dangerously to one side.
A rescue helicopter was despatched and the coastguard called for assistance from Caister, Gorleston and Cromer lifeboats.
This was the first call out for Caister’s Valentijn 2000 lifeboat which, after a long running fund raising campaign, arrived at the station in August. Valentijn 2000, the fastest lifeboat in the UK, has been put through it’s paces by the crew at Caister in a series of training exercises, but Tuesday’s early morning call out marked the boat’s first rescue operation.
John Cannel! of Caister Lifeboat said that everybody was pleased with the boat’s performance: “It was a very successful launch in a heavy swell and all the training came into practise.”
Caister’s high speed boat and the Gorleston and Cromer lifeboats travelled to within 20 miles of the Black Pearl. They were then informed by the coastguard that two supply vessels were on the scene and that the lifeboats could all return to their station.
Some of the cargo from the vessel had been thrown overboard to ease the ship’s distress. Speaking on Tuesday, Colin Tomlinson from Yarmouth Coastguard said: “After some of the cargo was jettisoned from the vessel, the situation became more stable. Black Pearl is now making its way very slowly towards Rotterdam with two vessels escorting.
He added: “A counter pollution plane will over-fly the scene shortly to investigate how the timber is dispersing.”
Story taken from Great Yarmouth Advertiser October 14th
Picture the new Caister Lifeboat Anthony Benson