New Shannon class lifeboat Bobby Cameron goes on service at Kilkeel RNLI

Bobby Cameron was declared a search and rescue asset by Belfast Coastguard at 7pm on Friday evening (5 June). The lifeboat had its first call out later that night to rescue a lone sailor.

The milestone comes after months of intensive and dedicated training by the station’s volunteer team as they made the transition from an inshore Atlantic 85 class lifeboat to the all-weather Shannon.

The lifeboat will be officially named at a special naming ceremony and service of dedication in August.

The Shannon has been generously donated by Miss Margaret Cameron and named in memory of her late brother, Robert. As a legacy lifeboat, this Shannon also carries the names of many other generous supporters who appear within the letters and numbers that make up the lifeboat’s identifying number. The funds provided by these people have helped to save lives at sea across the UK and Ireland.

Reflecting on the lifeboat going on service, John Fisher, Kilkeel RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘This is a major achievement for the station and marks the culmination of months of training by our selfless and dedicated crew. We want to sincerely thank everyone who got us to this point - our crew for their commitment to training, our wider team of volunteers for their support and our staff team who facilitated the training and supported our journey as we transitioned from an inshore to an all-weather lifeboat.

‘There is also a sense of nostalgia as we now prepare to bid farewell to our Atlantic 85 class lifeboat, Frank William Walton which has served the area we cover - one of the largest fishing fleets in the region - for 20 years. During that time, the lifeboat launched 266 times, with our volunteer crews rescuing 207 people, 11 of whom were lives saved.’

Martin Phillips, RNLI Area Operations Manager commended the Kilkeel team: ‘This day has come after an immense amount of time and commitment from the station since the end of last year. The volume of training and assessments that the station has achieved and the dedication to get to this day is something I cannot underestimate.

‘I want to extend my thanks to the team for the incredible time, dedication and commitment they have shown throughout this journey. The transition from an inshore Atlantic 85 class to a Shannon is a complex, demanding and far from quick process, it requires resilience, teamwork and often time spent away from families and jobs. I want to wish the team well as they now embark on this new era of lifesaving’.

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