Milford Haven coastguards rescue man overboard RIB (From Western Telegraph)

Milford Haven coastguards rescue man overboard RIB

10:44am Monday 15th March 2010 in

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Milford Haven coastguards are urging users of rigid inflatable boats (RIB) to always use a 'kill cord', following an incident in the haven yesterday (Sunday).

At 10.25am the port authority alerted coastguards that a small RIB had overturned near the semlogistics berth, tipping the lone occupant into the water.

The 57-year-old male casualty, who was on holiday from Cardiff, was pulled from the water by the coastguard vessel, Falcon, he had sustained cuts to his hands and head and was taken to Withybush Hospital by an awaiting ambulance.

The RIB continued on its course without him and could have caused substantial damage elsewhere, however the skipper of another RIB managed to ram the empty vessel and overturn it, preventing this from happening.

"It appears that the man fell out of the RIB after hitting a wave," said Kevin Rogers, watch manager at Milford Haven coastguard.

"But it seems he was not wearing a kill cord. Therefore the boat continued and could have possibly caused injury elsewhere.

"A kill cord is specifically designed to halt the engine on the RIB if something untoward occurs to the driver of the boat.

"Normally its held round the wrist and attached to the key. Our advice is always to ensure that you have such a kill cord attached in some way to you as the driver. In that way you can prevent any further accident if your RIB then speeds off on its own."

The crew of the Falcon remained at the scene for a short while and, with a crew from another RIB, managed to get the overturned vessel upright.

The Dale coastguard team also attended, they met and assisted the vessel and casualty when they reached the landing stage.