The Channel Chieftain V was en route to St Peter Port at 5.15 am on Tuesday when it received a call asking if it could come to the aid of the Guernsey fishing boat Albatross.
Skipper David Nuth turned his boat back to meet the trawler, which was about four miles off Guernsey’s east coast. He then towed the vessel into St Peter Port. The newspapers arrived about 40 minutes late.
‘It was no big deal and I’m sure that any decent skipper would have done the same,’ said Mr Nuth. ‘I hope the people of Guernsey will understand that sometimes there are more important things than getting newspapers on time.
‘It can be quite unnerving to be stuck out at sea in the dark,’ he added.
Duty search and rescue controller Mike Gaudion said he was grateful for the help of the Channel Chieftain V. ‘It was the most practical use of resources and a simple solution to a simple problem,’ he said.
The national newspapers have failed to arrive in Guernsey only once since the service began about eight months ago.
