Published: Thursday, 27th March, 2008 12:00
Tears over loss of £1.6m lifeboat
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The irreparable £1.6 million RNLI lifeboat is hoisted by crane onto Torness Harbour in a combined effort by RNLI volunteers, Torness power station staff and coastguards.
DUNBAR RNLI’s £1.6 million ‘all-weather’ lifeboat has been wrecked after it was torn from its moorings, by Torness, in hurricane-force gales on Saturday and tossed onto rocks.
The loss of the Sir Ronald Pechell Bt – in operation since 1995 – is being treated akin to a bereavement by local RNLI crew members.
Many were said to have been left “heartbroken” by the news and have refused to comment – likening the damage to losing a member of their own family.
Ivor McPhillips, president of Dunbar RNLI branch, even felt moved to pen an ‘obituary’ .
Branch chairman of Dunbar RNLI, David Johnston, said at least one of the local crew burst into tears when he saw the wreckage.
“It was a heartbreaking sight for the crew when they arrived at Torness and found the boat they have looked after so well for 12 years being pounded by mountainous seas,” he said.
“The wind and sea conditions when the boat broke loose were horrific – one experienced former coxswain said it was as bad as anything he had seen.”
The 28-ton lifeboat had been tethered to a buoy at Skateraw Harbour in the early hours of Saturday morning when it is believed the securing cords snapped in severe gales.
Within minutes, the drifting vessel was being smashed against nearby rocks by the raging sea.
Volunteer crews from RNLI, coastguards, and staff from Torness Power Station waited until high tide to drag the battered lifeboat to shore using a mechanical digger before hoisting it, by crane, onto Torness harbour for inspection.
Mechanics said it was “remarkable” that the fuel tank had remained intact and that marine life had not been jeopardised in the wreckage.
A huge gash cleaved into the hull, however, has crippled the boat permanently.
A full investigation into how the lifeboat broke free has now been launched.
Meanwhile, a relief lifeboat from the RNLI’s reserve fleet was due to arrive at Dunbar on Wednesday.
Fifeness coastguards confirmed Anstruther and Eyemouth lifeboats would provide temporary cover of the Dunbar sector, backed up by the Dunbar’s inshore lifeboat.
It is not known when a permanent replacement for Sir Ronald Pechell Bart will be acquired, but the national RNLI organisation will meet the cost of new all-weather lifeboat for Dunbar.
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