The crew of the Red Funnel ferry have successfully rescued a man from the water following an incident in Southampton Waters this afternoon (Thursday).
Shortly after leaving port as the 15:00 sailing from Southampton, the crew of Red Falcon became aware of a male in the water after he fell out of an inflatable dinghy.
2 members of the ship’s crew quickly launched a rescue boat and were able to pluck the casualty from the icy cold sea.
The Isle of Wight ferry has now returned to the Southampton terminal with the casualty taken ashore.
Emergency services have been alerted to the situation.
Thankfully, the male has been pictured wearing an inflatable life jacket – helping to keep him afloat and easily identifiable to the rescuers.
Red Funnel passengers can expect some additional delays on the route this afternoon as a result of the rescue mission.
UPDATE – Leanna Lakes, Operations Director at Red Funnel, has said:
“At 15.30 today the Red Falcon team identified a person in the water alongside a small dinghy. They immediately stopped the vessel and between 15.38-15.40 the team had prepared a rescue boat for launch and within 1-2 minutes of launch they had reached the casualty. The team reported the incident to Southampton Patrol and the rescue boat preceded to Berth 22 to meet the emergency services, which had been called earlier.
“I am extremely proud of the team onboard the Red Falcon today who quickly and safely responded to this emergency.”
Well done to the crew
I was on that ferry, red funnel crew handled it extremely well. A big disruption to service but dealt with professionally. Well done
Very Well done to all the crew, hope the gentleman is doing ok? Who actually cares if the ferry is late someone’s life was saved. Stop complaining life is too short?
For once, nobody was complaining.
Thank you for caring about my dad and he really appreciates it
I was on that ferry too, constant updates from the captain, well done to the crew. What is an hour or so delay for saving someone’s life, well done red funnel!!!!!
Thank you for everyone that’s been concerned about him he’s my father and he’s doing okay at the moment he’s come out of hospital and he seems to be doing okay he’s back home safe and sound x