Casualties as pleasure boat collides with landing craft Poole's 33ft Brede and Boston Whaler lifeboats were called to a major emergency inside Poole Harbour on 26 June 1988.

Maid of the Harbour, a large pleasure craft which carries passengers on trips around the huge natural harbour, had collided with an anchored Royal Marine landing craft, and the resulting rescue of the 73 people aboard earned the station and the crews a letter of thanks from the chief of operations.The crews of both boats were alerted by their bleepers at 1825, and the Brede Inner Wheel and the Boston Whaler Sam and Iris Coles were launched within ten minutes.

Conditions inside the harbour were smooth with good visibility, and the casualty was less than three miles away from the station in the relatively narrow channel leading up to the town of Wareham.

In view of the conditions and the nature of the incident the Brede took all available hands in the certain knowledge that they would be needed on board the casualty.

Other emergency services had been alerted, including police, ambulance and SAR helicopters, and reports indicated that there were a large number of injuries.

Ambulance It took the Whaler just nine minutes to reach the scene, including transferring the Brede's senior First Aider and litter aboard, and on arrival two additional First Aiders were put aboard the casualty to help with the injured - where they treated casualties with head injuries and a broken leg before passing them into the care of the ambulancemen who had arrived by road.

Inner Wheel arrived at the scene five minutes after the Whaler, and quickly passed atow line to keep Maid of the Harbour clear of a second landing craft, on to which she was in danger of drifting.

Once clear of the second landing craft Coxswain Ide turned Maid of the Harbour and brought her alongside the Brede for the short trip ashore.

Shaken 'I was mindful that the people on board were very shaken, and many were distressed,' he said later, 'so further bumps were undesirable to say the least.' In the event Maid of the Harbour, a very large and heavy boat, was put alongside a nearby pier without the slightest touch, and all hands helped the passengers ashore to buses and ambulances. Several lifeboat helpers had come to the scene by road, and they also assisted the shocked survivors of the incident.

The coastguard had been co-ordinating matters ashore and after checking with them that the lifeboats were no longer needed Inner Wheel and Sam and Iris Coles left the scene at 1940 and were back at station by 2010..