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Barrow Lifeboat responds to sighting of red flare

Lifeboats News Release

Barrow Lifeboat Station’s volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat earlier today to conduct a search in Walney Channel.

Barrow ILB 'Vision of Tamworth'

RNLI/Chris Clouter

Barrow ILB 'Vision of Tamworth'

The request for assistance came from the HM Coastguard base in Holyhead, at 11-49pm yesterday (28 August 2019). HM Coastguard had received a report of a red flare being sighted in Walney Channel in the vicinity of North Scale.

The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat ‘Vision of Tamworth’, was launched at 0-07am this morning with Jonny Long at the helm assisted by Andy Baxter.

HM Coastguard requested that the lifeboat search the area from the port entrance, up to North Scale. This was duly done and with the search completed and nothing untoward being found, the lifeboat was stood down and the incident recorded as a false alarm with good intent.

The lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 1-00am where it was cleaned and made ready for the next launch.

The wind at the time of the incident was south-westerly, Force 5, and the high tide had passed at 10-49pm with a height of 8.7 metres.

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.

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