A fire in the engine room
Humber Coastguard has coordinated the recovery of the 15 metre fishing vessel Green Pastures with a fire on board 25 miles off the Northumberland coast.
At 10.53am Humber Coastguard was contacted by the fishing vessel Green Pastures with three crew on board, reporting a fire in the engine room. Humber Coastguard requested the launch of Amble and Tyne RNLI lifeboats and Rescue Helicopter R131 from RAF Boulmer.
The crew reported that they believed they had contained the fire and sealed the engine room off. The rescue helicopter used its FLIR Forward Looking Infra Red camera to check for hot spots within the vessel and none were detected. The Tyne RNLI lifeboat has taken the vessel under tow to Blyth.
Graham Dawson Humber Coastguard Watch Manager said,
The Skipper made a very calm call on the VHF channel 16 Distress frequency. He gave a clear accurate position which helped us get assistance to him quickly.
His actions in closing the ventilation to the engine compartment and his use of the dry powder fire extinguisher probably helped save the vessel and prevent injury to the crew. Incidents involving fires on wooden fishing vessels often do not end as successfully as this.
Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
