Report of two red flares means a night launch for the Beaumaris Lifeboat.
Report of two red flares means a night launch for the Beaumaris Lifeboat.
Lifeboats News Release
At 7.21 pm on Saturday 15 February 2025 the volunteer crew members of the Beaumaris lifeboat received a page from the U.K. Coastguard that multiple reports had been received of two red distress flare being seen above the Menai Strait near Gallows Point.
RNLI/W Roberts
Daytime Picture of the Coastguard Helicopter and Beaumaris Atlantic 85 Lifeboat
The Beaumaris Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat Annette Mary Liddington with her volunteer crew launched at 7.32 pm and proceeded to commence a search of the Menai Strait between Gallows Point and Bangor Pier. Search area then being extended towards Menai Bridge.
In addition, the Bangor and Penmon Mobile Coastguard Rescue Teams also began a shoreline search.
The Coastguard rescue helicopter was also deployed to the search this being hampered by the low cloud resulting in the helicopter having to fly at a lower altitude than it would normally have done.
After nearly two hours in the cold conditions nothing had been discovered so the U.K. Coastguard instructed the rescue teams to discontinue the search as they now believed the flares to have been fired from inland.
The lifeboat arrived back at Beaumaris at 9.17 pm to be refuelled and cleaned. Once this had been completed the crew left the station.
A RNLI spokesperson said: ‘The members of the public who reported the flares did so in all good faith and until a comprehensive search has been completed, we must assume that the distress flare is a genuine request for assistance. However, we hope that the person or persons responsible for this false alarm realise that had another call come in the range of both the lifeboat and helicopter would be reduced by the amount of fuel utilised on this search.
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.
