Two men pulled from St Aubin's bay after yacht sinks

Saturday 18 November 2017

Two men have been rescued after their boat sank in St Aubin's Bay.

Shortly before 18:00 yesterday evening, a 62ft motor yacht got into trouble after damaging its hull when it hit the Raudiere buoy - the impact caused significant damage to both the yacht and buoy.

The yacht started to sink, and had almost completely submerged when the Fire Service's inshore rescue boat arrived. The two crew had managed to float a life-raft, and were picked up by the fire service. Neither was injured. 

A fire service spokesman commented: "The (fire service) would like to reiterate the importance of carrying a VHF radio and safety equipment, and being competent in its use at all times when at sea.  Thankfully in this case the fast actions of the crew in issuing a Mayday message enabled both to be located quickly and safely."

Jersey Coastguard says the yacht, which was on its way to Guernsey finally sank west of Noirmont where it had been towed,  in 26 metres of water, just south of the main commercial passage:

"The situation should not pose a danger to navigation but until we can verify that (this) afternoon using the multi-beam echo sounder and for precautionary measures, the western approaches to and from St Helier Harbour have been closed to commercial traffic.

"Jersey Coastaguard and VTS are currently promulgating navigational warnings to mariners and will continue to do so until further notice. This precautionary measure will impact slightly on passage time into St Helier but commercial vessels can safely use the south passage.

"Arrangements are being put in place to salvage the vessel. There is no evidence at this time of any leaking of fuel and the Island’s Environment Department have been informed."

Pic Credit: Jersey Fire and Rescue