A fridge freezer dumped in the Forth has sparked a major rescue operation by Fife lifeboat crews and coastguards yesterday evening.
Volunteers at Kinghorn RNLI station were scrambled into action at 4.22pm on Tuesday, December 29 after an object was spotted floating north east of Port Seton by a member of the public.
The lifeboat crew undertook a search in freezing night time conditions for the object which was thought to be a possible vessel in distress one to two miles off the coast, with Coastguard Rescue Teams from Fisherrow and North Berwick searching from the shoreline.
Lifeboat and coastguard crews were eventually stood down after the object was found not to be a vessel in distress but instead a discarded fridge freezer.
Commenting on the emergency shout, Kinghorn RNLI crew member, Mel McGarva said: “We launched around 4.30pm and were on-scene 20 minutes later to begin a search of the area.
“Around 5.40pm we found a discarded fridge freezer floating to the west of Craigielaw Point.
‘The four crew were very cold by the time we were stood down and returned to Kinghorn at 6.50pm due to the winter weather conditions.
‘The member of the public did the right thing by reporting this object as it is very difficult to identify objects from a distance.”
An appeal had now been made for the public not to discard rubbish or unwanted household items in the water.
‘We would ask people to discard of their waste responsibly as this callout could have easily been avoided. ” said Mel.
“There are obviously other environmental risks from irresponsible disposal of fridges too.”
