SVITZER GELLISWICK

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Tug towed crane barge to safety

The tug 'Svitzer Gelliswick' came to assist the crane barge 'BD 6072' (MMSI: 235030693) which had sustained a broken anchor and was drifting with five people on board in position 51 41 47 N, 005 05 26 W, about 0,7 nautical milesoff South Hook Point on Jan 6. 2022. The crew of the Angle Lifeboat was paged at 8:40 a.m. after the barge had lost one anchor and the remaining three were dragging as it was being pushed towards the shore near Monk Haven in the Milford Haven waterway. The winds were gusting up to 50 knots and a 3.5 metre swell. The tug was attempting to secure a tow to the barge and tow her to safety. When the lifeboat arrived on scene the tug had managed to secure a line and was towing the barge into deeper water but was struggling to manoeuvre the barge in the conditions. The lifeboat stayed nearby to provide safety cover in case the need to evacuate the five crew members from the barge arose. The tug managed to slowly tow the barge up river towards Milford shelf with assistance to manoeuvre the barge provided by barges companion tug. Once it was safely re-anchored at Milford shelf, the lifeboat was able to return to her mooring at 1:35 p.m. The Milford Haven port authority coordinated the operation. Report with photo: https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2022/january/06/a-busy-start-to-2022-for-angle-lifeboat