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Old 16th Feb 2006, 19:58
  #324 (permalink)  
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Join Date: Feb 2006
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Originally Posted by [email protected]
So why did the S61 form Lee get called ahead of the Sea King from Chiv for the sinking tanker in the channel 2 weeks ago? And why did it take an hour to get 6 people off the boat before deciding that the rest would be better recovered by climbing down a rope ladder (from a boat listing at 30 degrees and worsening) and into the Lifeboat which sustained bow damage as it successfully and very skilfully manoeuvred under the overhang and into the vessel. And why was this plan pursued when the Chiv Sea King was hovering, waiting for an opportunity to quickly recover the remaining crewmembers?
Brixham CG were running the job - is that why they requested Lee first? The MCA are allowed to task their own assets within 30 nm of their location without asking ARCC - is that what happened here?
Could it possibly be because the S61 was not prepared to sit committed in the hover? The crewmembers of the vessel were far more likely to get hurt scrambling down a ladder and jumping into a pitching lifeboat.
Got to answer you - there are some flaws here.

It was a French job, in French waters. Cross Joburg telephoned Portland and requested helicopter assistance. They had none available.
Portland spoke to Solent and ARCC. IJ was launched.
The task was to pick up 22 persons from the water who were about to abandon ship.
We wondered how heavy the crew would be, 22 fat wet Greeks are much heavier than 22 dry Vietnamese. It was also at longish range and the helo would be in the hover for a while. Weight/fuel/range/time ????
Therefore we asked for a second helicopter. R-169 was tasked from Chivenor. IJ got there first and began to winch from the deck.
The master of the Ece had changed his mind, he did not want the crew to leave. The boat listed to 30 degrees, the master changed his mind again. After lifting about 6 the lifeboats from St Petersport and Alderney arrived and the tanker was abandoned. 12 by helo, 10 by lifeboat.

Communications were a problem. This was French job, coordinated by Cross Joburg, on the french side of the channel. It was at the limit of vhf range. The higher helo R-169 was able to relay comms. The helos were having difficulty getting responses from the french and were having to work back to Portland then we got on the phone to the french.


When we launch stuff we launch it on the information we have at the time, which is always incomplete, sometimes wrong.
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