East Sussex rescue crews respond to boat taking on water near Beachy Head Lighthouse

At 1.13pm on Wednesday, March 20, Solent Coastguard requested the immediate launch of Eastbourne RNLI’s Trent class all-weather lifeboat 'Esme Anderson' to locate and assist a 17 foot fishing vessel that was taking on a concerning amount of water approximately two miles south of Beachy Head Lighthouse.

A spokesperson for Eastbourne RNLI said: “Rescue 163 was the first on scene and located the casualty vessel that had travelled westwards from the original position and was now closer to Cuckmere Haven.

“Eastbourne Lifeboat was the next to arrive on scene who carried out welfare checks and assessed the water ingress which appeared to have been stemmed by the two crew on board.

“Newhaven lifeboat arrived on scene shortly after. The decision was made to transfer the two crew onto Newhaven lifeboat and a salvage pump was used to pump the water out the vessel.”