A volunteer crew from the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was dispatched early Tuesday morning to aid the roll-on/roll-off cargo ship Finnwave, which had issued a Mayday signal due to an engine fire about 11 miles southeast of Eastbourne. The crew of the 33,000-ton vessel reported the incident while battling a challenging situation at sea.
The RNLI’s All-Weather Lifeboat, Esme Anderson, faced moderate sea conditions and force five winds to reach the Finnwave. Fortunately, by the time the lifeboat team arrived, the ship’s crew had already extinguished the fire; however, the vessel had lost all engine power.
No crew members required evacuation, and the RNLI crew was asked to standby as the Finnwave’s team worked on deploying the anchor. The lifeboat remained on-site for over an hour, monitoring the situation until the anchor was successfully secured amidst difficult conditions.
Eventually, the Solent Coastguard confirmed that the vessel was safely anchored, allowing the RNLI to depart and return to their station. The coastguard continues to liaise with the Finnwave as repairs are underway. The vessel, operated by Finnlines, is an ice-class ship built in 2012 and has a gross tonnage of 33,816.
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