Two sailors have been spotted off Milford Haven suffering from fatigue after being at sea for over 17 hours. Smoke was seen pouring from their yacht as a result of engine failure as well as a significant spillage of oil.

The yacht was discovered just before midday on Sunday morning (October 22), by members of Angle lifeboat crew who had been attending an event at the Ty Hotel, on Milford Waterfront.

“We were leaving the hotel just before midday when we overhead a yacht with two people on board informing the coastguard that they were experiencing engine issues,” commented one of the Angle crew members.

“They said their engine was overheating and there was also a severe amount of smoke.”

The crew members decided to head towards the distressed yacht as they made their way back to the lifeboat station at Angle to enable them to carry out a welfare check on the occupants.

“Once we reached the scene, we could see that the yacht was smoking badly as a result of its overheating engine,” continued the lifeboat crew member.

“There was also a significant spill of oil and diesel down below, due to mechanical issues.”

The lifeboat crew also discovered that one of the sailors was injured.

“It was obvious that both of them were fatigued as they’d been sailing for over 17 hours.

“We could see a large tug and barge under tow transiting the channel, so we decided it best to attach a tow to the yacht and transport it back towards Milford Haven.”

Once the yacht was off the entrance to the dock channel, the yacht was placed into an alongside tow from where it could be manoeuvred into the lock pits.

“Once the yacht was positioned, two of our care-trained crew members went on board to check the injured casualty however he felt he was now happy to stay onboard and rest up," added the Angle lifeboat member.