A tugboat crew braved six-foot swells and 40-knot gusts to secure tow lines to the stricken Spirit of Bermuda and bring her safely back to shore.

Faithful rushed to the aid of the sloop, which was taking a group of schoolchildren to St George, after she lost power off Murray’s Anchorage on Tuesday afternoon.

Captain Melvin Martin carefully manoeuvred the tug within range of the sloop in rolling seas so this crew could toss tow lines on to the Spirit.

Despite one line snapping during the rescue operation, Captain Martin and his seven-strong team were able to bring the sloop into Dockyard, to the relief of all parties.

“You have to be on your p’s and q’s in that kind of situation,” Captain Martin said. “Maintaining your position in seas like that is not an easy task.

“It was one heck of a swell for the sloop to deal with, although it was manageable for us, and keeping in a straight line as we towed her in was challenging.

“At one moment, the sloop came towards us on a wave and must have been within 15 feet, which is pretty close. A collision out at sea could have caused significant damage to her.

“I was obviously concerned about the situation, but we always had a plan. The crew did a very professional job. We knew there were schoolchildren on board, lives are lives, and we had no hesitation to be out there.”

Faithful had just helped HMS Mersey come alongside in Hamilton when she was called to the aid of the Spirit.

After attaching tow lines to the sloop at just before 5pm it took nearly three hours to bring her around to Grassy Bay under the watchful eye of the pilot boat St George and her crew.

As she entered Dockyard, the tender Dragon took over and brought the Spirit of Bermuda alongside.

“We were relieved and happy to bring her back in safely,” Captain Martin said.

“It was not easy out there, although I have done worse jobs out on the ocean before.

“Fortunately, the sloop retained its steerage capability, which obviously helped as we came along the North Shore, but you always have in the back of your mind a rope wrapping around the prop and have to be fully focused.

“The original plan had been to attach two lines to the front of the Spirit to form a bridle, however one snapped and we had to bring her in on one line.

“But that worked out OK and she came in nicely behind us.”