Congratulations to Captain Mark van Belzen and crew on board the aggregate dredger MHD Reimerswaal, a vessel contracted to CEMEX Marine who rescued a 3 man Danish fishing crew last Wednesday.

At 09:05 they received a mayday call from a fishing vessel – the Kristina – off the north west of Denmark heading to Harlingen in The Netherlands.

There was a 30 knot west south west wind blowing and the wave height was 2.5 – 3m but the weather remained fair.  Captain Mark van Belzen proceeded at full speed to the position indicated and arrived on the scene in 25 minutes.  He immediately made preparations to launch one of her rescue boats should the need arise. 

At 09:47 the Kristina started to list to starboard the 3 man crew of the fishing vessel jumping overboard, abandoning ship, wearing immersion suits and carrying a portable VHF radio.  The MHD Reimerswaal immediately launched their rescue boat and recovered the fishermen at 09:50.

During the recovery of the crew the wooden cutter sank rapidly with the bow disappearing at 10:00 into 40m of water.  The Danish fishing crew had not had time to launch their own life raft manually before they abandoned the vessel.

This is the first time in Captain Van Belsen’s career that he has been involved in a rescue at sea and congratulations to him and the crew of the MHD Reimerswaal whose swift actions brought about the safe delivery of the Danish fishermen – their safety procedures are obviously well drilled and went according to plan.

The Danish fishermen remained on board and were taken to Harlingen where they landed safely.  The picture above shows the three thankful fishermen.