A solo sailor who was rescued from a vessel which ran aground in the north-east of England told rescuers he had been at sea for 45 days.
Armed police and an Army bomb disposal team were called to King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth on Wednesday evening after concerns were raised about items found aboard the sailing boat.
The one person on board, an elderly man, was helped off by a lifeboat volunteer after two RNLI crews were called to the scene.
This followed reports of a vessel drifting dangerously close to rocks at about 8.00 p.m. (2000 GMT).
The Tynemouth inshore lifeboat (ILB) was training at the time near Tynemouth’s north pier and was diverted to the incident, helm James Waters said.
He said they managed to get one crew member aboard the stricken vessel who helped the sailor onto the lifeboat as it ran aground at the south end of the bay.
Where it remained anchored on Thursday morning.
The Tynemouth crew followed the Cullercoats lifeboat, which had also been sent to the incident, back to Cullercoats, where they handed the man over to paramedics.
The RNLI said: “A crew member from Tynemouth ILB was placed aboard the vessel to carry out an assessment.
“One person was found on board, who had reportedly been at sea for 45 days and was in need of medical assistance.
“With the vessel taking on water and pitching erratically with the sea conditions, the decision was made to extract the casualty from the vessel.
“Lifeboat crew cut away the guard rails for easier access and transferred the casualty onto the ILB,” Waters said.
“Today’s incident highlights the close working relationship between RNLI lifeboat crews and our partner agencies.
“Thanks to the swift response and teamwork between Tynemouth and Cullercoats lifeboats, Coastguard teams and the ambulance service, the casualty was brought safely ashore and received the medical attention they needed.