A MAJOR rescue operation was launched on Tuesday night after one of the largest French fishing boats operating in Jersey’s waters got into difficulty off the Island’s north-west coast.
A diver and salvage pump were winched down from a French helicopter onto the Granville-registered Le Coelacanthe after it began taking on water.
RNLI lifeboats from Jersey and Guernsey also attended the scene.
In a statement, RNLI Jersey said: ‘The RNLI Jersey volunteer crew were paged shortly after 9pm last night to go to the assistance of a 20-metre French fishing boat which was taking on water.
‘The crew arrived on scene to find that a French helicopter had already dropped a diver and salvage pump aboard the casualty vessel and the Guernsey RNLI all-weather boat was also on the way.
‘The French diver requested the RNLI’s salvage pump in addition to their own and the pump was transferred across to the casualty before a tow was established with the larger Guernsey lifeboat. Due to the size of the casualty vessel, the Ports of Jersey tug vessel had also been launched and was instructed to then take over the tow.’
The St Helier lifeboat was then stood down and returned to the Harbour at 2am.
The ‘Handfast’ tug towed the vessel back to Granville.
