A 50ft motorboat was saved from sinking when an RNLI rescue crew turned up in the nick of time with a portable pump.

The four-man crew on board the vessel, called Arawak, made an emergency call on Saturday when she began taking on water near Long Reach, off Bishops Ooze on the River Medway.

Within minutes the Sheerness All Weather Lifeboat had arrived on the scene and put two lifeboat crew members on board with a mechanical portable pump capable of pumping water at 175 litres per minute.

The pumping continued while Arawak was towed to Gillingham Marina and successfully secured in the locks.

Full time RNLI coxswain, Robin Castle praised his volunteer crew for their swift actions.

“This vessel was taking on water very fast, but my crew dealt with the incident with great skill and dedication to duty. This could have had been a more serious outcome.”

Subscribe to one of our boating titles and you could save up to 34%!