Lifeboat Crew paged at 08.05 for immediate ALB launch.

Cromer lifeboat 'Royal Shipwright' launched at 08:15 to the tug H T BLADE with a fire in her engine room, approx 3 miles off Cromer. Also assisting was RMS Riga. The tug had been on passage from Lowestoft to Hull.

As the lifeboat approached the casualty vessel the crew were already hard at work preparing the salvage pump and fire hoses so that they were able to begin dealing with the situation immediately.

One of the lifeboat crew, a retained fire-fighter, was the first to board the casualty to gather as much information as possible from the tug skipper. As the H T Blade had no engine power her crew were unable to use their own fire-fighting equipment so two hoses were passed from the lifeboat and the boundary cooling process began within seconds of arrival.

Initially when the water was applied to the vessels bulkheads it turned to steam, due to the high temperature of the metalwork with paint peeling away. There were also two hoses being used on the RMS Riga, assisting the cooling process while she was along the port side of the casualty. 

Six fire-fighters from the MIRG Team, with their equipment, were landed on the tug by Rescue Helicopter 125 from Wattisham, which then returned to collect a further 6 men. Once on-board the MIRG Team set up a control point and consulted with the tug skipper and the Cromer Coxswain to assess how the situation had changed since the arrival of the lifeboat and started to deploy their equipment. Using thermal imaging equipment they were able to find any remaining 'hot-spots' on the casualty vessel and make sure the cooling water was placed where it was most needed.

After the arrival of the second MIRG Team the fire-fighters got into their BA gear while the lifeboat crew re-positioned the fire hoses to enable access to the engine room for the two assembled teams, now on standby. When the final assessment of the situation was made, before entry to the engine room, the decision was taken to stand down the teams due to the fact there was "no threat to life at that time" but they  remained on standby.

By this time the RMS Riga had been released to carry on her journey.

At 08:48 Cromer ILB was also paged to assist, by taking out further fire-fighting equipment.

Two other tugs, Grey Salvor and Grey Vixen, arrived on scene later in the afternoon to tow the casualty back to Lowestoft with the MIRG Teams still on-board and the lifeboat was released to return home.

SEE GALLERY FOR SHOTS OF THE SERVICE

ALB Crew

J Davies (Coxswain)

G Nichols (Mechanic)

A Woods

A Barker

N Lowe

A Lincoln

K Forden

Shore Crew

M Newlands (Tractor driver) 

R Kirk (Head launcher)

C Davies

S Gasse

P Russell

J Stuart

M Brown

R Jackson

C Gill

R Annis

R Leeds

P Stibbons

D Heir

C Rogers

M Wass

G Stallard

I van Battum

C Davies

S Robbins

ILB Crew

M Brown (Helm)

S Robbins (Helm)

R Jackson

R Kirk

C Davies 

Click here to see a short video.