Inflatable boat recovered by Volunteer Life Brigade and Tynemouth RNLI came from sunken fishing boat

South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade and Tynemouth RNLI were called to assist with the recovery of an inflatable boat and members of the RNLI have explained where it may have came from.
The lifeboat was spotted near Souter.The lifeboat was spotted near Souter.
The lifeboat was spotted near Souter.

Both South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade and Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat were called at around 8.40am on Wednesday, October 2 to Souter Point following a report from the public about an inflatable boat that had been spotted drifting out to sea.

The inflatable life-raft which was found off Souter Point, South Tyneside, was reported to the UK Coastguard's Humber Ops Centre by the man who spotted it.

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Tynemouth’s all-weather lifeboat was sent to the scene, and the inflatable was recovered while team members of the brigade worked to locate the informant.

A spokesperson for Tynemouth RNLI lifeboat service said: “Arriving on scene, approximately one mile from shore, the life-raft was quickly located by the lifeboat crew and brought into the boat.

“The serial number was found by the Coastguard to match that of a raft registered to a 10m fishing boat that sank off Tynemouth last week and must have eventually broken free of the wreck, inflating as it rose to the surface.”

Following the discovery, a mile square search around the area was carried out by the teams to locate any other debris.

No further debris was found and the lifeboat was returned to station.

Crews were stood down after passing these details to Humber Coastguard.