Hartlepool RNLI and Royal Navy bomb disposal experts called after fishing boat lands wartime mine

Hartlepool RNLI were alerted at around 10.40pm on Monday night after 13-metre fishing boat with two people on board trawled a wartime mine approximately five miles off the coast.

The lifeboat service took a Royal Navy bomb disposal team and their equipment to the fishing boat to inspect and deal with the ordnance.

The bomb disposal experts secured the mine and left it on the seabed to be dealt with during daylight.

Hartlepool RNLI Deputy Launch Authority Steve Pounder said: "Unfortunately the bomb disposal team who had travelled from Scotland were unable to launch their own boat due to the low tide so we took them to sea to deal with the ordnance, which they secured and left on the seabed to be dealt with in the daylight and then allow both our boat with the Navy team back on board, and the fishing boat to return to Hartlepool safely.”

Hartlepool’s all-weather lifeboat was launched at just after 11pm and arrived on the scene with the bomb disposal team at 11.25pm.

They returned to the Ferry Road boathouse at 1.10am on Tuesday and the all-weather lifeboat was refuelled and made ready for service again by 1.40am.

Hartlepool RNLI coxswain Robbie Maiden said: “There was some good teamwork from my crew transferring the bomb disposal team and equipment to and from the all-weather boat.

"Assisting the Royal Navy at sea helped bring the incident to a satisfactory end.”