THE crew of an 18-foot motor boat who were rescued following a major sea search have been criticised by the St Catherine lifeboat crew for ‘a basic lack of seamanship’.

Their inexperience, the crew claim, led to the launch of a major rescue involving two lifeboats and an air search plane, together with about 20 support crew. The search for the Sea Haze started shortly before 2.30 pm yesterday when it was reported that the vessel, en route from Jersey to Sark, had broken down. The position of the boat was unknown and a loss of signal led to a breakdown in communication. The Channel Islands Air Search aircraft Lion’s Pride located the boat nine miles north of the Island after a flare was spotted at 3.20 pm and the aircraft circled the area until the arrival of St Catherine and St Helier lifeboats. Once the St Catherine lifeboat was launched it was immediately called by the vessel Britannia, which had also broken down north of St Catherine.