An engine fire has broken out on a 32-foot sailing yacht four miles off Caldey Island.

The calls were made to the Tenby all-weather lifeboat shortly before 8.30pm on Friday (June 9) by the yacht crew who informed the lifeboat team that their vessel was adrift some four miles east of Caldey.  They confirmed that a fire had broken put in the engine.

“We were on scene around 15 minutes after launching, and we located the vessel adrift in calm seas with very little wind,” commented one of the Tenby lifeboat crew members.

“We put one of our crew members on board the yacht to ensure the occupants were well and that the boat was still seaworthy but the coxswain then decided that our best course of action was to tow the yacht back to Tenby harbour.”

Once they reached the pier, members of Tenby’s Fire and Rescue service boarded the vessel to conduct an assessment of the fire damage to ensure that it wasn’t in danger of reigniting.

The lifeboat returned to station at 10.50pm.