Barrow RNLI lifeboat Assists in Multi-Agency Search
Barrow RNLI’s volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat early this morning to assist the emergency services in the search for a missing person.
The request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard at 4.25am. The information received was that the emergency services had been tasked to search for a person who was reported missing in the vicinity of Walney Channel.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, was launched at 4.42am with Saul Tomlin at the helm assisted by crew, Michael Armstrong and Sean Hagan. The lifeboat was at the scene in under ten minutes and commenced a search of the shoreline in the area north of Jubilee Bridge. The crew of the lifeboat proceeded to search to the south as far as the entrance to Ramsden Dock Basin and around the Channel moorings and Belfast Berth pontoons.
Shortly after 6.00am, with nothing found, the lifeboat was stood down. Furness Coastguard, along with Cumbria Police, North West Ambulance Service and Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service were also in attendance.
The lifeboat returned to the Boathouse at Roa Island at 6.30am where it was washed down and made ready for the next launch.
The weather at the time of the incident was overcast and the wind was south, south-westerly, Force 5-6. The next high tide at Barrow was due at midday with a predicted height of 8.8 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 142,700 lives.
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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
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