Littlehampton’s lifeboats tackle three separate incidents in 24 hours
At 2.22pm on Saturday 7 October, Littlehampton RNLI’s Atlantic 85 Renée Sherman lifeboat and volunteer crew launched in response to a call from the UK Coastguard to assist the Selsey lifeboat in the search for a group of kayakers who were reported to be in difficulty.
With force five winds and a moderately choppy sea, the kayakers were believed to be two and a half miles west of the harbour entrance.
The initial report stated there were five kayakers involved, at the scene two of the five were quickly located and taken aboard the Selsey lifeboat, then taken back to Littlehampton Harbour.
A further fifteen casualties were identified by the UK Coastguard Coastal Search team and were recovered safely to the shoreline at West Beach. At 3.08pm the UK Coastguard requested the Littlehampton lifeboat to stand down and return to the station.
On Sunday 8 October May Littlehampton RNLI received a call at 10.32am from a leisure craft reporting there was a dog that appeared to be stranded on the shingle beach, west of the harbour entrance.
The station's D Class lifeboat Ray of Hope and its volunteer crew launched and headed out to the reported scene. On arrival the dog had been recovered by its owner and both were safely ashore. The lifeboat returned to the station at 10.47am, where it was refuelled and made ready for service.
The second call on Sunday was received at 8.33pm from Shoreham RNLI requesting assistance from Littlehampton RNLI to take over the towing of a leisure craft that had left Brighton Marina earlier in the day, but had broken down just off Lancing and was without any power and therefore unable to continue its journey.
Shoreham lifeboat had received the initial communication via VHF radio from the casualty and launched in readiness to take the casualty with three people on board under tow.
Again, Littlehampton RNLI’s D Class Ray of Hope lifeboat launched and made rendezvous with Shoreham lifeboat some 500 metres south of the harbour entrance. The casualty was towed back to Littlehampton Harbour and was safely secured alongside the Harbour Boards Visitors mooring. The lifeboat returned to the station at 9.45pm.
RNLI media contacts
- Ray Pye, Littlehampton RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer / 07854 074688, email [email protected]
- Paul Dunt, Regional Media Officer (South East) on 0207 6207416, 07786 668825 email [email protected]
- For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789 email [email protected]
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.