St Peter Port lifeboat coxswain Buz White, left, and Mattias Nyman, captain of rescued Swedish vessel Alva. The crew of the schooner met their rescuers yesterday. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0650901)

CREW members on the Swedish vessel Alva feared they were about to run aground on Sunday, until it was towed to safety by the St Peter Port lifeboat.

And it only emerged yesterday that before the Guernsey authorities came to its rescue in the early hours of Sunday morning, the 44-metre three-masted maritime school for Swedish teenagers had been in difficulties since about 4am on Saturday.

The Alva’s captain, Mattias Nyman, 62, hailed the skill and bravery of the six-man crew on relief lifeboat Roger and Joy Freeman, for their response. ‘They did an excellent job. What they did, they did perfectly and I was very impressed with their work.

‘My biggest fear was that we would run aground somewhere because I couldn’t steer her anymore.’

The Alva was en route from Gosport to Vigo, Spain, with 11 crew and 29 students aged 16 and 17.