Margate RNLI assists in search for person in distress
Margate’s RNLI all-weather lifeboat, along with the Ramsgate’s RNLI inshore lifeboat has assisted Kent Police and coastguards in the search for a person in distress off the Thanet coastline.
The alarm was raised in the early hours of this morning (Monday 30 October) when UK Coastguard was contacted by Kent Police reporting they had received information about a person in distress in the sea on a wooden pole. Marine search and rescue assistance was requested.
The location of the person could not be determined with certainty, so Margate’s all-weather lifeboat was tasked to search the coastline from Margate to the east towards Ramsgate while Ramsgate’s inshore lifeboat searched from Ramsgate in the direction of Pegwell Bay. Margate’s coastguard rescue team was also tasked to carry out a shoreline search.
Following around an hour of searching and after Ramsgate’s inshore lifeboat had illuminated an area with a parachute flare, it was reported that the person concerned had been located ashore near Cliffsend and taken into the care of Kent Police. The rescue units were stood down and returned to station.
Ian Lowe, Deputy Launching Authority, Margate Lifeboat said: ‘The uncertainty as to the person’s location required a complex search arrangement by various RNLI and coastguard assets. It was a good example of multi-agency working and a reminder of the importance of having two RNLI lifeboat stations covering the lengthy Thanet coastline.’
ENDS
RNLI Media contacts
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Peter Barker, RNLI Margate Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer 07974 064304 [email protected]
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Paul Dunt, Regional Media Officer (South East), 0207 6207416, 07786 668825 [email protected]
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For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
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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.
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