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Boat: All Weather Lifeboat
Crew: Mark Pollard (Coxswain), David Proud, Snowy Angove, John Blakeston, Nick Lewis, Mark Waters, Carl Beardmore
Location: 48 miles SSE of Falmouth
Shout Date: 18/01/2007 (All day)
Weather:W 9, Very Rough Sea, Heavy Swell, Good Visibility, Overcast

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At 12:50 Falmouth Coastguard requested that Falmouth All Weather Lifeboat be launched to assist in the rescue of 26 crew from the British registered Containership MSC Napoli (53,409 GRT).

The vessel put out a distress call at 10:30 reporting that she was 41 miles SE of the Lizard (44 miles North of France) and taking water through a hole in her starboard side. Three Royal Navy helicopters were scrambled from RNAS Culdrose and at 12:06 Lizard Lifeboat was also requested to launch to assist in the rescue. The Coastguard Emergency Towing Vessel Anglian Princess was also tasked.

Due to the severity of the situation the crew of the Napoli decided they had no option but to abandon using one of the ships lifeboats. Once the first helicopter arrived on scene it located the ships lifeboat and quickly assessed the situation. Due to the very heavy breaking seas, which were in excess of 30ft the helicopter crew were concerned about the risks of trying to winch the casualties off the ships lifeboat so Falmouth Lifeboat was also tasked to assist.

Falmouth All Weather Lifeboat left its berth at 13:00 and set course for the casualties position 48 miles SSE of Falmouth. The lifeboat was able to maintain an average speed of 20knots in the poor prevailing weather conditions, thanks to the outstanding design capabilities of the Severn Class lifeboat.

Eventually the helicopter managed to get its diver onboard the ships lifeboat and the task of winching off the 26 crew commenced. At 14:05 it was confirmed that all the crew had been safely winched up into the two helicopters and the lifeboats were released to return to station. At that time the Falmouth Lifeboat was 23 miles SSE of Falmouth and had 25 miles to run to the casualty.

The All Weather Lifeboat was back alongside its pontoon berth by 15:25. The lifeboat was then refuelled, and was ready for service by 15:55.

The MSC Napoli is a 275m (900ft) Containership. Launched in 1991 and originally named CGM Normandie, at that time she was the biggest container in the world. She is capable of carrying 4,419 containers and was on passage from Antwerp to the Canary Islands. Twenty-four hours after the incident the vessel was still afloat and attempts to salvage the vessel were in hand.