Dover's RNLI lifeboat was launched yesterday afternoon (Thursday, 14 March 2013) after the dredger "Arco Arun" reported that she had dredged up a suspected World War II ordinance and had requested that her crew be evacuated.
Dover Lifeboat "City Of London II" left her berth at 1630 with a crew of eight led by Deputy 2nd Coxswain Jon Miell and proceeded to rendezvous with the dredger 18 miles south west of Dover. On arrival, the lifeboat escorted the dredger to a safe anchorage 2 miles south of Folkestone.
It was agreed that ten crew from the Arco Arun would be evacuated by the lifeboat and taken back to Dover, leaving two crew aboard to await experts from the MoD Bomb Disposal team.
On arrival back in the port, the Dover RNLI crew were stood down.
It was subsequently found that the ordinance was not dangerous and the Arco Arun & its crew continued on their passage later in the night.
Dover Lifeboat Operations Manager, Roy Couzens said: "Thankfully this job turned out to be a false alarm but it is a reminder that no lifeboat call for our volunteer crew is routine."
