Two men rescued after boat sinks near Littlehampton Harbour

Two men have been rescued by Littlehampton RNLI after their boat sank in shallow water around 100 metres south of Littlehampton Harbour.

The incident happened on the evening of Saturday, September 12, with HM Coastguard alerting the volunteer lifeboat crew shortly after 7.30pm. The D-Class lifeboat Spirit of Fidelity was launched and the crew were drawn to the scene by two flares fired from the stranded 15-foot vessel. They found the two men standing in waist-deep water and, although cold, both were otherwise unharmed.

The men were taken by lifeboat to visitor moorings in Littlehampton Harbour, where coastguards and shore crew were waiting, before being taken to the lifeboat station to warm up. Littlehampton RNLI launch authority Chris King said the River Arun can become extremely shallow at low tide and said the crew were relieved the men were well despite their ordeal.