Fishing boat freed from River Tyne sandbank after running aground

A fishing vessel was helped by a rescue team after it ran aground on the River Tyne.

By Fiona Thompson

Published 27th Feb 2021, 15:32 BST

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Tynemouth RNLI was alerted to the incident by the Coastguard at 9.47pm yesterday, Friday, February 26, with its all weather lifeboat, Spirit of Northumberland, sent to help after the boat picked something up from the riverbed due to the very low spring tides, causing its rudder to jam.

Housing plans submitted for major development at South Shields riverside site

A spokesperson for the team said: "Tynemouth Lifeboat made its way to the scene, getting the fishing vessel off the sand bank it was now stuck on and tow it back to the quay.

A photo shared by Tynemouth RNLI of the team's rescue effort after a fishing vessel ran aground on a River Tyne sandbank.

A photo shared by Tynemouth RNLI of the team's rescue effort after a fishing vessel ran aground on a River Tyne sandbank.

"Due to the rudder being stuck facing starboard, it made manoeuvrability especially difficult for the lifeboat to be able to pull the fishing vessel along side.

"The lifeboat was able to attach herself to the port side of the fishing vessel to counter the rudder and brought her safely back against the fish quay at around 9.15pm where we were met by Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade.”

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