This in from Richard on behalf of Yarmouth RNLI. Ed
In 2015:
- The charity’s lifeboats launched 392 times
- Volunteers rescued 487 people of which eight were lives saved
- Lifeguards in the South East rescued 27 people and saved one person’s life
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat crews around the coast of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight were kept busy in 2015, according to figures released by the charity this week.
Collectively, crew from the seven lifeboat stations in the area launched 392 times last year to attend a wide range of incidents including commercial vessels in trouble, adrift fishermen, struggling swimmers and leisure boaters in difficulty.
Saving lives
Overall RNLI lifeboat volunteers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight rescued 487 people. Of those, eight were classed as lives saved – a specific RNLI criteria where a person would have died if not for the RNLI lifeboat arriving on scene.
The busiest lifeboat station in the area was Calshot with its crew launching 88 times, rescuing 101 people and saving three lives.
Keith Colwell, RNLI Community Incident Reduction Manager in the South, said:
“Once again our volunteer lifeboat crews have had a busy 12 months working hard to serve their local communities. They willingly down tools and drop everything to respond to an emergency call for help day or night, come rain or shine.
“Over the past year the RNLI has also been working hard to prevent people from getting into danger, whether that is through lifejacket clinics or our Respect the Water campaign. We understand that things can go wrong from time, so some preventative maintenance and annual checks prior to the boating season should allow for worry free sea time.
“I would like to thank all of our volunteers for their tireless hard work and dedication throughout the past 12 months. Without all of our supporters, fundraisers, crews and education teams our lifesaving service would not operate.”
Respect the Water
2015 saw the RNLI run its national Respect the Water campaign, which aims to reduce the number of coastal drownings.
Notable rescues around the coast of Hampshire and Isle of Wight included:
- Crews from Calshot, Lymington and Cowes rescue a man trapped inside the wheelhouse of his tug boat, surviving in just a small pocket of air in the cabin.
- Portsmouth RNLI launched to a plastic skeleton ribcage which was mistaken for human remains near Clarence Pier.
- RNLI teenager lifeguard saves a man just 13 minutes into her first ever shift as a lifeguard.
- Yarmouth’s lifeboat was called out to the aid of a classic motor boat with a serious engine fire. The boat was once used in a car chase scene in The James Bond film ‘From Russia with Love’.
- Volunteer lifeboat crew from Portsmouth RNLI rush to the aid of a sail boat when its mast snapped in two.
Image: © Nick Edwards / WightSeen
