MARY ANN

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Guard ship assisted distressed yacht

The "Mary Ann 1" was among the ships to provide assistance to a yacht with three people on board after it started taking on water and at risk of sinking eleven miles off the north Kent coast on Feb 21, 2013. The alarm was raised soon after 8 a.m. when the 9-m-yacht, on passage from Burnham on Crouch to Dover, started taking in water while near the Fisherman’s Gat channel. The crew of the yacht transmitted a Mayday distress message that was picked up by coastguards at both Dover and Walton-on-Naze. A rescue operation was launched including the tasking of Margate’s all-weather RNLI lifeboat and a rescue helicopter from Koksijde in Belgium. Two nearby vessels working on the London Array windfarm also responded along with a nearby Dutch fishing vessel. Several merchant vessels also offered assistance. The "Mary Ann 1" was soon on scene and established that the ingress of water was under control and stood by the yacht until the lifeboat arrived. On its arrival a member of the lifeboat’s crew was put aboard the yacht to make an assessment of the vessels condition whereby it was confirmed that the situation was now under control. The lifeboat took the yacht in tow for the four hour journey to Ramsgate harbour where they were met by local coastguard officers. Report with photo: http://rnli.org/NewsCentre/Pages/Margates-RNLI-lifeboat-responds-to-Mayday-call-from-yacht.aspx