Distress at sea on the Ems and off Rügen: Man falls from trimaran, boat capsizes in the Bodden

Sunday lunchtime, shortly after 12 noon, between Emden and Termunten in the Netherlands: A sailor falls from his trimaran into the water. His two daughters, both in their early teens, are left alone on board. But instead of panicking, they reacted calmly: They send an emergency call to Bremen Rescue Radio via channel 16. The DGZRS maritime emergency radio centre immediately alerts the surrounding shipping, sends two helicopters into the air and orders rescue cruisers from Borkum and Eemshaven in the Netherlands to the scene of the accident.

Skipper driven hundreds of metres away by the current

The crew of a pleasure craft also received the distress call and used the automatic identification system (AIS) to determine the position of the trimaran near buoy 58 in the Borkum-Emden fairway. The sailor who had fallen overboard had drifted several hundred metres with the current. The crew of the 8.5 metre long motorboat finally succeeded in rescuing the man from the water.

The pilot transfer vessel "Izurdia" then took over the casualty and brought him back to his trimaran. The pilot transfer vessel's technical engineer transferred to the trimaran and steered the boat with all three people to Emden, where an ambulance was waiting. Carsten Ihnken, head of operations at the DGzRS Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said after the incident:

"The two girls mastered this life-threatening situation with admirable presence of mind."

• SAREx exercise by sea rescuers: "We forgot that it was an exercise"
• DGzRS: Sea rescuers build new class of cruiser

Open boat capsizes when hit by waves

A day earlier, there had been another distress at sea in the Rügischer Bodden shortly before three o'clock. According to the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern water police, an open sports boat capsized there due to waves. Father and son fell into the water. The son was able to contact his mother by mobile phone, who in turn alerted the rescue services.

Several lifeboats and two rescue helicopters made their way to the casualties. They were rescued from the water with hypothermia and taken to the nearest hospital.

During the rescue, the emergency services discovered that the skipper of the boat was under the influence of alcohol (0.4 per mille). The Stralsund Water Police Inspectorate ordered a blood sample to be taken, as the consumption of narcotics could not be ruled out. Criminal charges were filed against the man.