The RNLI developed MOB Guardian as a 21st century aid to sea safety designed to help save fishermens lives at sea. The installed price is from £372.50 + VAT* but can be fitted FREE if the vessel is insured with either Sunderland Marine or The Scottish Boat Owners who will reimburse the cost (excluding VAT) following installation.
*Gross VAT is payable on the full cost of MOB Guardian before EFF grants and RNLI subsidies. Call 01202 663142 for full details.
Click here for terms and conditions.
RESCUE STORIES |
FV Guyona – 24 June 2008
On Tuesday 24 June 2008, three men aboard the FV Guyona were forced to abandon ship as their vessel sank with no time to deploy the liferaft. They had to tread water until the vessel was fully submerged, allowing the liferaft to be released.
Fortunately, the vessel had the RNLI’s MOB Guardian system aboard. The RNLI was alerted to the crew’s plight at 6pm and immediately spoke with the Coastguard, which requested the assistance of the RNLI St Peter Port lifeboat from Guernsey to search for the missing vessel and her crew.
Using the last MOB Guardian-verified position, and taking into account weather and tides, the lifeboat crew worked out the likely position of the fishing vessel. At the time, the lifeboat was on exercise only 12 miles from the predicted position, and the fishermen were found in a liferaft at 6.50pm, 5 miles south south west of Sark.
The Guyona, from the port of Brixham in Devon, had been dredging for scallops. Fisherman David McMurdo of Annan, Scotland, says: ‘MOB Guardian saved our lives, no doubt about it. If it wasn’t for that, nobody would have known where we were.’
Guyona skipper Tristan Northway says he’s glad the investment in MOB Guardian had been made: ‘Accidents happen and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Obviously, it does work; we are here.’
FV Levan Mor of Looe – 23 July 2008
Skipper Dan Gummow, 24, and crew member Joe Rothwell, 22, were onboard the 10m Levan Mor of Looe when she sank on Wednesday 23 July 2008. The two fishermen were airlifted from a liferaft 20 miles off Penzance in Cornwall. They say they owe their lives to MOB Guardian.
When Levan Mor of Looe missed a scheduled position report, the alarm was raised and the vessel’s last known position was given to the Coastguard. After trying to contact the fishing boat by VHF radio, the Coastguard scrambled Penlee RNLI lifeboat and a Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter.
Dan says that when they climbed into the liferaft they had no idea whether or not help would come: ‘It all happened really quickly. In less than a minute the boat had capsized and we were in the water. We didn’t have time to put out a distress call on the radio, so when we got into the liferaft we didn’t know if the emergency services had been alerted or not. We weren’t due into Newlyn until the next day, so it could have been many hours before anyone missed us.’
Once on scene, the helicopter crew spotted smoke and located the liferaft, which had drifted but was still just 4 miles from the last position reported by the MOB Guardian unit. The fishermen were winched onboard and taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, suffering from mild hypothermia.
Joe says: ‘It was such a relief to see the helicopter coming. At that point we knew the MOB Guardian unit had done its job. We hope to get another fishing boat and head out to sea as soon as possible, and the first equipment we’ll buy will be a new MOB Guardian system and a liferaft.’
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