On the early morning of December 11, the 24 meter long guard vessel Resolute (IMO: 7008025) ran aground in St. George’s Channel near Dinas Head, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The Resolute had been in use as a guard vessel for a large offshore wind farm off the coast of Ireland when conditions deteriorated with winds reaching near gale force winds. The Resolute sought shelter along the Pembrokeshire coast from the weather when it ran up on the rocks.
The RNLI launched 2 lifeboats from Fishguard while the Coastguard dispatched a rescue helicopter to the scene. The all-weather lifeboat had arrived on site and found the Resolute could not be approached. Due to the vessel being so close to the cliffs and various underwater hazards, the RNLI requested the smaller inshore lifeboat to assist.
The inshore lifeboat was able to approach the Resolute, but was not quite able to reach the vessel. The RNLI placed the lifeboat as close as possible while the 4 crew on the Resolute would abandon ship into a life raft to transfer the crew to the lifeboat. Two crew successfully transferred safely, but the third crew member fell into the sea. Fortunately, the crew member was wearing a lifejacket and would be pulled from the water the by lifeboat. The final crew member was able to transfer successfully. No reports of injuries.
The next day the crew were assisted back onto the grounded Resolute. An inspection found the vessel had suffered hull damage and water ingress. Reports stated a salvage and recovery plan was being developed. The top priority is first to remove the diesel fuel off the vessel.
