Royal Bermuda Regiment Boat Troop soldiers and marine police officers came to the rescue of a VIP yesterday.

RBR Boat Troop soldiers and the Bermuda Police Service’s marine unit saved the day for Wayne Caines, the Minister of National Security, after a Boston Whaler boat carrying him to the traditional Mangrove Bay raft-up broke down en route from Riddell’s Bay.

Mr Caines said: “It was good to see the team working first- hand. The response was quick and everybody was pleasant.”

The boat Mr Caines was on board developed engine problems yesterday afternoon and was marooned for about half an hour before the joint services- manned Heron I picked up the passengers, delivered them safely and towed the broken-down boat back to Riddell’s Bay.

Mr Caines said: “If this had happened late at night, it could have been totally different. It’s good to see all the mechanisms we have working.”

He added that boaters should remember basic safety rules, including filing a float plan and the key numbers to call.

The crew — RBR soldiers Lance Corporal Taneah Bean, Private Donavin Trott-Burchall, Reserve Police Section Officer Jeffrey Benevides and Reserve PC Suzie Williams-Stovell — also rescued a lone woman whose semi-rigid inflatable had run out of gas well short of her destination at Riddell’s Bay.

The grateful woman, Hollie Payne, of Riddell’s Bay, Warwick, said: “I was so very happy to see them. I called people in Mangrove Bay to come and get me, but no-one responded.”

Lance Corporal Bean said: “I enjoy the work. It’s keeping people safe and I’m getting paid for it at the same time.

The 30-year-old commercial diver, from Pembroke, added: “There are breakdowns, people get too tired to swim back to their boats, that kind of thing. It’s been a busy day, but the holiday has been very relaxed.”

Private Trott-Burchall, who works at the Rosewood Tucker’s Point resort, said: “I like the water and being out on the ocean, so I joined Boat Troop to learn more.”

The 26-year-old, who earlier this year completed a tough three-week nautical skills course run by the Royal Navy in the Caymans, added: “I also like interacting with people — that’s what I do on a daily basis.

“The Regiment and the police work well together. I try to learn from everyone and they have a lot of experience.”

Section Officer Benevides, animal control officer with the Bermuda Government, said: “I’ve cross-trained with the Regiment, so we work together well – it’s a good collaboration.

In addition to the boat rescues, the Heron I also picked up three teenage girls who got tired while swimming in Mangrove Bay.

The boat, along with other joint-services vessels, also patrolled the bay area as a deterrent to crime and a safeguard to partygoers.