Major land, air and sea search for men who failed to return on time from fishing trip

Five RNLI lifeboats and the Coastguard were involved in an ‘intensive’ search for two men who did not return on time from a fishing trip at sea.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

RNLI lifeboats from Shoreham, Brighton and Selsey were launched to help search for the two men on Sunday (August 22).

Shoreham’s all-weather and inshore lifeboats were launched just after midnight to look for a small, rigid inflatable craft (RIB) with two men on board.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

An RNLI spokeswoman said the RIB had left Worthing Beach near the pier for a fishing trip on Saturday morning and had been due to retun by about 8pm.

Both Shoreham RNLI lifeboats were launched to search for the missing menBoth Shoreham RNLI lifeboats were launched to search for the missing men
Both Shoreham RNLI lifeboats were launched to search for the missing men

After boat did not return when expected and attempts to contact it were unsuccessful, the lifeboats started a search pattern and were joined by the Coastguard helicopter and the Selsey all-weather lifeboat, which headed to a position south of Worthing.

The spokeswoman said: “At this stage it was unknown where the persons had gone fishing, so the search area was initially south of Worthing including the Rampion wind farm.

“Shoreham and Littlehampton coastguard rescue teams were conducting a shoreline search. The search area increased and Newhaven and Brighton lifeboats joined the search.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Coastguard helicopter returned to base to refuel and, shortly after returning, just before 4am, located the craft off Brighton with both men on board.

The search involved five lifeboats and the CoastguardThe search involved five lifeboats and the Coastguard
The search involved five lifeboats and the Coastguard

“The Brighton lifeboat proceeded to the position and came alongside the vessel,” the spokeswoman added. “The pair were okay apart from being wet and cold and said they had run out of fuel and tried paddling ashore.

“The casualties were taken aboard the Shoreham all-weather lifeboat and taken back to Shoreham lifeboat station and checked over. Brighton lifeboat took their vessel to safety. All other units were stood down to return to station.”

Shoreham lifeboat second coxswain Simon Tugwell said: “This was an intensive major air and sea search involving five lifeboats, the coastguard helicopter and coastguard teams.

“The men were extremely lucky that they were spotted by the helicopter and thanks to all the efforts of those involved this turned out to be a positive outcome.”