LIESEL ESSBERGER

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Tanker involved in SAR operation off French coast

The "Liesel Essberger" being enroute Dagenham-Algericas was involved in the search for the crew of three of the former 20-m- harbour tug “Aquarius” (built 1965) which sank in heavy seas off France leaving one man missing, feared dead, on Apr 23, 2012. Two men from Wembury and Plymouth were later winched to safety by a French rescue helicopter after the tug got into trouble off the western tip of Brittany, early in the morning. The tug was enroute La Coruna- Plymouth. The missing man was thought to be from the Derby area. The tug, which had been based in Gibraltar, had radioed for assistance at 6.20 a.m. reporting that it was taking in water and sinking. Ten minutes after the frantic distress call the tug sank and two of the three man crew managed to get into a life raft. The third crew member did not manage to get into the raft and disappeared. A French rescue helicopter reached the life raft close to the island of Ushant, at 7.30 a.m. British time and winched the two survivors to safety. They were flown to a military hospital in Brest and treated for hypothermia and shock. Several ships had been diverted to the area since the morning and planes and helicopters were searching for the missing man until the fall of night.