A Mayday call of distress that resulted in a major search and rescue operation being launched in the Solent area last night (Monday) has been deemed a hoax.
At around 21:45 lifeboats from Cowes and Gosport were joined by Coastguard Rescue helicopter 175 in conducting an urgent search for a 70ft yacht reporting to be taking on water, as first reported by Island Echo. The Mayday call was made on VHF Channel 16 and informed the Coastguard that the yacht’s pumps were not coping with the ingress of water.
With 7 persons on board and the large yacht at risk of sinking, further resources were tasked including Calshot RNLI, Ryde Inshore Rescue, Coastguard Rescue Teams from Hillhead, Bembridge and The Needles plus a Coastguard Rescue helicopter from South Wales.
Despite saturating the area and conducting searches of the Solent, the River Medina and Southampton Water, nothing was found and search teams were stood down at around 01:00 this morning.
A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has said:
“We never put a price on human life. If we get a 999 call we treat it as real. We encourage people to call us if they see someone in trouble, even if they’re not sure whether they are or not. Calling 999 in these cases is always the right thing to do. Search and Rescue resources will always be used rather than risk loss of life. If we think someone’s in danger or in trouble we will always search for them and rescue them if it’s needed.
“Making deliberate, false or misleading calls is against the law and we treat it very seriously. We keep a record of these calls and hold those records as evidence for future prosecutions. Have no doubt, if you make a hoax call and we catch you, you will be prosecuted under the full force of the law. Not only is it wasting the valuable time of our Coastguard officers, volunteers and resources such as the RNLI and our aircraft while searching; it also may be putting other lives at risk by diverting our resources away from genuine emergencies”.
In total 5 lifeboats, 2 rescue helicopters, 3 Coastguard Rescue Teams and a Police boat were involved in last night’s incident, plus operational staff both at HM Coastguard and on the ground.
