Three saved in Torquay rescue mission
News »
Motorboats
Article Date: 2007-02-19
View Count: 1203
Three people and a dog were rescued yesterday morning after their speedboat sank off the coast of Torquay in Devon.
A woman phoned Brixham Coastguards at 09:20 GMT saying that she was at sea on board a rapidly sinking vessel with a man, child and canine companion but was unsure of their position.
The coastguards immediately launched a fleet of recovery ships and helicopter from Torbay and Portland respectively and soon picked up the stricken crew, one of which was suffering from hypothermia.
All three were then taken to Torbay Hospital and were recovering yesterday evening.
Dave Scullion, watch manager at Brixham Coastguard, said: "These people were very lucky to survive as they were in the water for over 30 minutes, water temperatures at this time of year are about nine degrees Celsius and after spending this amount of time in the water, we would expect them to be approaching a dangerous hypothermic state and this would affect their ability to stay afloat.
"In this instance they were able to hold onto their stricken vessel."
He recommended that all boats should have sufficient life jackets on board and contain a VHF (very high frequency) radio to contact coastguards and other seafarers should a situation arise.
© Adfero Ltd
Social Bookmarking
