On Saturday July 4, around 18:20 p.m., the CROSS-AG called the SNSM sea rescue station of Saint-Martin to rescue a boat near the Pinel islet, following an alert transmitted by another boat nearby.
The distressed ship is a 16-meter long Dutch-registered motor boat with 45 people on board, including several small children. It struck a reef in the small pass located between Pinel islet and the coast and has a large waterway in the engine room.
The SNSM quickly assembled a team of 5 volunteer rescuers who left the Marina Fort-Louis in the direction of the Pinel islet with the "Rescue Star".
The "Dolent" of the Nautical Brigade of the Gendarmerie is also engaged by the CROSS and also rushes towards Pinel, from its station at Anse Marcel.
The boat that gave the alert retrieves 2 children and a woman, to put them in safety, while the other passengers remain on board to try to remedy the situation.
Using 2 boats in the area, they make an attempt to get the boat out; but the waterway is too important. They therefore decide to fail it completely so that it is posed and cannot sink further. One of these ships then collects the other 4 passengers.
Night fell when The "Dolent" of the Nautical Brigade arrived on the spot, followed by the Rescue Star of the SNSM.
The 3 French people embark on the Dolent to be dropped off on the French coast, while the other 4 return to the Dutch side on a charter boat.
The passengers are all safe and no one needs medical assistance.
The stranded boat is placed on the quail in the pass, but does not represent a danger to navigation because it is not in a navigable area!
The SNSM warns the Natural Reserve of Saint-Martin that there is a boat stranded in its waters, with about 1400 liters of diesel. The tanks being intact, there is apparently no risk of pollution; but in case of worsening weather conditions, the boat could risk disintegrating…
The agents of the Nature Reserve had to go on site early the next morning to assess the situation.
For its part, the owner planned to quickly contact a specialized company, to repair the waterway and put his boat afloat…
7,475 total views
No comments