Shoreham lifeboat assists broken down ship in '˜freezing temperatures'

The all weather lifeboat was called at 3am to assist an 88m broken down cargo ship, which had broken down eight nautical miles off the coast of Beachy Head in East Sussex.

The ship was in the English Channel in ‘rough seas and freezing temperatures’ and was drifting towards the Rampion wind farm, a Shoreham RNLI spokesman said.

The crew stood by for five hours until a tug took the ship under tow, confirmed the spokesman.

HM Coastguard confirmed the ship had seven people on board and was thought to have suffered engine failure, the Coastguard spokesman said.

The weather conditions were described by the spokesman as difficult, with ‘strong to gale force winds and snow’.

The Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s counter-pollution team and duty surveyor were informed and worked with owners to resolve the situation, the spokesman added.

Phil Norman from HM Coastguard said at the time: “The weather is pretty awful but the good news is that the ship’s anchor has been deployed and is holding.

“HM Coastguard will continue to monitor the ship, Shoreham lifeboat is on scene if the seven people on board need to be taken off.

“An HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter is also on standby.”

A tug took the ship under tow several hours later.