Engineer airlifted to burns unit from Liverpool Bay

Apr 19 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

A MAJOR rescue operation was launched off the Wirral coast after a ship’s engineer suffered severe burns.

The RNLI Hoylake lifeboat sped to assist the victim on the Pembroke Fisher which was heading in to Liverpool just after 8am yesterday.

The captain of the Pembroke Fisher had called Liverpool Coastguard for advice after the chief engineer suffered severe burns to his arms.

The coastguard patched the call through to a doctor in Aberdeen who stressed the importance of getting the casualty ashore as soon as possible.

Hoylake Lifeboat, under relief RNLI Coxswain Gary Bird, was launched to assist the burns victim, and a helicopter from RAF Valley was also scrambled.

Lifeboat and helicopter met the ship together, 2.2 miles southwest of the Mersey Bar light vessel.

It was decided that the helicopter would be the best option and the engineer was airlifted from the ship.

Steve Armitage, of Hoylake lifeboat, said they had been told there had been an accident on board the ship leading to the engineer’s injuries.

He said: “Using the helicopter was the prudent thing to do – with all the bandages and so on, he would not have been able to climb down the ladders on to the lifeboat.”

The lifeboat stayed on scene for around 40 minutes until the aircraft was safely on its way to Whiston burns unit, then returned to station.

RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew, supporters and fundraisers will be joined by local dignitaries next Tuesday, April 22 to watch the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead, lay the foundation stone of Hoylake’s new RNLI lifeboat station. Work on the station started last year and should be completed by the autumn, providing Hoylake’s volunteer lifeboat team with the essential facilities.

The lifeboat station will replace a small, ageing boathouse designed for 19th Century rowing lifeboats.

Both the new lifeboat station and Hoylake’s next lifeboat will be part-funded by a £2m appeal which was launched in September and which has already raised £575,000.

liammurphy