RNLI Fraserburgh in Search after EPIRB Activation

Fraserburgh RNLI's lifeboat with Duty Coxswain Graeme Duthie, mechanic Shane Richardson , and RNLI volunteer crew members Amy Allan, Gubby Duncan, Mark Hadden, Martyn Runcie and Declan Sutherland aboard, took part in an intensive full scale search of the area between Rosehearty and St Combs along with the local Coastguard search and rescue team and the Coastguard helicopter.

The intensive search was called off after three hours after the UK Coastguard were satisfied that it seemed likely that no person or vessel was in danger and that the unregistered emergency device had somehow been activated accidentally or unknowingly.

Fraserburgh RNLI Duty Coxswain Graeme Duthie said: ‘We’re always concerned for people’s safety when the pagers go off and we are always glad when all is well and that no one is in danger. We were all on full alert for three hours and carried out a thorough search of the area around the harbour and then from the sea until being stood down. The coastguard team carried out a thorough search of vessels in the harbour, and the Coastguard helicopter searched a large area around Rosehearty from the air. Although it seems as though the emergency device was accidentally activated we would always much rather launch and search to ensure no one is in danger, than not launch at all.

'It would really help the Coastguard if an EPIRB or similar distress signalling device was registered to a vessel or an individual so that contact could be made much earlier to locate the source and nature of the emergency transmission. We would call on all owners of such devices to make sure they are registered so that if they are ever activated they can be located quickly and would help us save lives at sea.'

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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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