HM Coastguard

HM Coastguard and the Royal Navy Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team are currently on scene at Maenporth Beach investigating reports of a parachute mine 800 metres off shore. Just before 9.30am today, HM Coastguard Operations Centre at Falmouth received a 999 call from a local diver who discovered the suspected mine after diving off the coast.  The photographs were immediately sent to the EOD team based in Plymouth. Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team and the Falmouth RNLI All Weather Lifeboat were sent to the location immediately.  The Lifeboat is keeping vessels clear of the area as a precautionary measure.   HM Coastguard is also been issuing safety broadcasts informing vessels of the exclusion zone. Mark Rodaway OBE, Duty Commander for HM Coastguard said:  ‘We won’t know exactly what we are dealing with until the EOD team make their way to the device.  Until that time, we have taken measures to clear the area and make...

Emergency services and other organisations are working together this morning (21 November) as part of an exercise involving a scenario of an incident involving an aeroplane in the River Mersey. The event involves the Maritime & Coastguard Agency in the form of HM Coastguard, Merseyside Fire & Rescue service, Liverpool Airport Rescue and Firefighting Service, North West Ambulance Service and the RNLI. In the scenario, the incident at the River Mersey happens after the pilot has been taken ill while on the approach to Liverpool’s John Lennon airport. Emergency services are quickly sent in response in a race to rescue the ten people on board. HM Coastguard’s search and rescue helicopter will be involved in a winching exercise from a Royal Navy ship. The exercise will look at how each organisation responds, how they work together and what lessons can be learned. Danny Jamson, senior coastal operations officer for HM Coastguard (the search and rescue arm of the Maritime...

A full-scale search operation resumed this morning just after 6am for a fisherman who went missing off the Applecross coast yesterday afternoon.  Loch Ewe, Applecross, Gairloch, Achiltibuie, Appin, Kyle and Inverness Coastguard Rescue Teams are searching the coast and shoreline, along with two experienced kayakers. Portree and Kyle Lifeboats are searching the sea, alongside a large number of local fishing vessels who assisted HM Coastguard and the RNLI yesterday. The crews are searching in conditions with only 1/2 mile visibility, as well as being very overcast and misty.  

A large scale search and rescue operation for a missing fisherman has been launched off the Applecross coast after a fishing vessel was reported on rocks.   Just after 2.30pm today (20 November) HM Coastguard received a 999 call from a member of the public reporting that a fishing vessel with its engine running was spotted on rocks south of Applecross, Scotland.   An immediate search and rescue operation was launched with Applecross Coastguard Rescue Team, Kyle and Portree Lifeboats, and the HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Stornoway.   After arriving on scene, it was discovered that the fishing vessel had no one on board.   A number of nearby fishing vessels have also joined the search for the missing fisherman after a Mayday relay broadcast was made by the Coastguard.   This incident is ongoing and we have no further information at this time. SEARCH UPDATE 7.55pm - An extensive s...

HM Coastguard is currently treating an emergency VHF Radio transmission made by a kayaker in distress on Saturday afternoon in the Banff area as a false alarm at this stage. The voice recording has been subject to multiple playbacks and the absence of background noise has cast doubts that this transmission was made at sea in rough conditions.  After an extensive and thorough search was carried out by the Coastguard, we can further report that no vehicle or other evidence of kayaking activities were found, nor has there been any reports of missing persons in that area. HM Coastguard Duty Controller Matt West said:  ‘If we get an emergency transmission we always treat it as real.   If we think someone’s in danger or in trouble we will always search for them rather than risk loss of life.    ‘If this does turn out to be a hoax, we would take this opportunity to remind people that making deliberate, false or misleading calls is against the la...

On 19 th November 1997, the freighter Green Lily ran aground at Grutwick on Bressay. Although her 15 strong crew were rescued by the Lerwick Lifeboat and the Coastguard helicopter, Billy Deacon, the helicopter winchman, was lost when he was swept overboard from the ship. Mr Deacon was posthumously awarded the George Medal, and crews from both Lifeboat and helicopter were honoured by the RNLI and HM Coastguard Search & Rescue, with Lifeboat coxswain Hewitt Clark being awarded the RNLI’s Gold Medal. Y esterday, on the 20th anniversary of the tragic events of that day, crews from both the HM Coastguard Search & Rescue helicopter based at Sumburgh and the Lerwick Lifeboat simultaneously lay wreaths at the site of the grounding at midday, and this was followed by a service in Lerwick. A commemorative exhibition will also be held in the Shetland Museum from 14 th – 25 th November. Stuart Cunliffe, Chief Pilot at HM Coastguard Search & Rescue in Sumburg...

Brave Winchman, Billy Deacon Twenty years ago today, 19 November 1997, HM Coastguard Winchman Billy Deacon, was tragically lost while carrying out his search and rescue (SAR) helicopter duties in the Shetland Islands. On the day in question, the merchant vessel Green Lily got into difficulties in extreme weather conditions, hurricane force 12, with 15 crew members on board. With the vessel foundering, five crew members were taken off by the Lerwick Lifeboat. As the lifeboat was unable to recover the rest of the crew, and with the Green Lily very close to the rocky shoreline, the remaining crew had to rely on the SAR helicopter for rescue. In mountainous seas, Deacon was winched down to the deck of the vessel. Once on board he placed the remaining crew members, two at a time, in the rescue strops and they were all winched to the safety of the helicopter. As the helicopter was in the process of recovering Deacon, who was alone on the deck and with the ship now on the rocks, he wa...

HM Coastguard is currently searching for a kayaker off Banff Links, after receiving a distress call requesting help at approximately 4pm today (18 November) The radio call, made on Channel 16 to the Coastguard, stated that a person was in a kayak and in distress. HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter based at Inverness, Banff and Portsoy Coastguard Rescue Teams, Macduff, Buckie and Fraserburgh RNLI lifeboats are all searching the area. If you have any information please call 01224 592334 or 999 and ask for the Coastguard. UPDATE: After a thorough and extensive search of the area by HM Coastguard and the Police the search has been suspended pending further information.

Yesterday afternoon  Flint Coastguard Rescue Team  and  Rhyl Coastguard Rescue Team  raced against a quickly rising tide to rescue a mother and her son and their dog after they got stuck in the mud between the sky tower and Rhyl Harbour. HM Coastguard received the call for help just after 3.30pm and immediately sent in the two Coastguard Rescue Teams who are trained mud rescue technicians. All three were stuck up to their knees in mud. Both casualties and the dog were successfully rescued by the Coastguard Rescue Teams just as the tide reached their position. They were taken safely back onto the beach where  Rhyl Lifeboat  was standing by ready to assist due to the approaching tide. The casualties were assisted back to the Rhyl Boathouse where  Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust  paramedics were waiting to treat them. Despite their ordeal, both casualties and the dog were given the all clear to go home and recover. A great example of team...

Last night, HM Coastguard received multiple 999 calls reporting a person in the water calling for help, on the south side of the harbour at Mevagissey, Cornwall. Mevagissey Coastguard​ Rescue Team, Fowey RNLI​ Lifeboats and the Newquay Coastguard search and rescue helicopter were all sent to the location. Before the rescue services had arrived, members of the public on the harbour wall threw the man a lifejacket in the water and he managed to get himself out of the water and onto rocks beneath the harbour wall.  The Coastguard helicopter winchman was lowered onto the rocks with the casualty and then airlifted the casualty to the top of the pier wall, where he was met by a waiting ambulance. A spokesperson for Mevagissey Coastguard said: 'The casualty had been in the water for over 30 minutes and was very cold.  On landing the casualty he was warmed up at our station were he was checked over by the helicopter paramedic and later transferred to an ambulance crew who then...

This morning Dorset Police have again requested HM Coastguard assistance in the continuing search for a missing person, last seen on the 8 th of November in the Swanage area. Swanage and St Albans Coastguard Rescue Team s are currently carrying out an extensive search in the area. Kaimes Beasley, Duty Controller for HM Coastguard said:  ‘We understand the concerns of members of the public who want to help the emergency services with the search operation.  However, the coastal environment can be very high risk, and we would ask people not to conduct any searches on the cliffs, coastlines or rivers as they could get into difficulty themselves.  Please be assured that the coastguards -  who are properly equipped and trained to reach these areas – are currently carrying out extensive searches.’ For any further information please contact Dorset Police.

Tomorrow  we will be honouring the brave and selfless men and women, many of whom were Coastguards, who died in the service of their country. During World War One, Coastguards could be called upon by the Royal Navy as reservists and posted to ships due to their expertise in signalling.    HM Coastguard itself suffered considerable losses in the early months of the war, and following this, the Admiralty decided to return the majority of Coastguard personnel back to their stations.  For the remainder of the war, shore based Coastguards continued with their duties as well as manning War Signal Stations, undertaking dangerous and highly specialised disposal of mines and keeping a watch for spies or saboteurs who may have tried to land.  They also provided early warning of raids by German warships and assisted the police and army in rounding up suspects and escaped POWs. Each year HM Coastguard sends a contingent of twelve Coastguards from...

It’s always nice to be told you’ve done a great job and that you’ve made a real difference. Members of Hartlepool’s Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) have been honoured along with Steve Hart, Senior Coastal Operations Officer (SCOO) when they received the Cleveland Police Chief Constable’s Community Service Award. Back in May, Cleveland Police had been searching for a missing woman, who they found in the water near to Heugh Pier, Hartlepool. Hartlepool and Seaham CRTs were sent along with the RNLI, Cleveland Fire Brigade and North East Ambulance Service. Once the teams arrived, it was clear that the RNLI lifeboat was not going to be able to reach the woman, who could be seen next to a rocky out crop, roughly 20 metres from the shore. The only way for her to be brought back safely was for the Coastguard to carry out a water rescue. Steve Hart was placed on a line and waded against the waves, to get to the woman. He gave her immediate first aid, before being joined by Hartl...

A former captain and marine pilot have each been given four months suspended sentences after pleading guilty to causing a collision in the River Humber. Gehan Sirimanne, marine pilot, now retired and Ruslan Uromov, former captain were sentenced at Hull Crown Court today (8 th November) after pleading guilty to offences in connection with a collision between a car transporter ship and a ferry on the River Humber in December 2015. Ruslan Uromov was charged with conduct endangering ships, structures or individuals, contrary to section 58(2) and (5) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Gehan Sirimanne was charged with misconduct by pilot endangering ship, contrary to section 21 of the Pilotage Act 1987. They both pleaded guilty to these offences and sentenced to four months, suspended for 18 months. Mr Sirimanne was ordered to pay £45,000 in costs and Mr Uromov was £750 in costs. At 7pm on the 3 December 2015, Mr Sirimanne, who was then working as a marine pilot for Associated Bri...

Just before  11.30am  today (8 November) Dorset Police requested HM Coastguard assistance in the search for a missing teenager in the Swanage area. Swanage and St Albans Coastguard Rescue Teams are currently carrying out an extensive search in the area. James Instance, Duty Controller for HM Coastguard said:  ‘We understand the concerns of members of the public who want to help the emergency services with the search operation.  However, the coastal environment can be very high risk, and we would ask people not to conduct any searches on the cliffs or coastlines as they could get into difficulty themselves.  Please be assured that the coastguards -  who are properly equipped and trained to reach these areas – are currently carrying out extensive searches along the coastline.’ Any sightings of missing teenager Gaia Pope should be immediately reported to  Dorset Police.

The Inverness-based HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was in action twice within the hour yesterday (Sunday 5 November), first to rescue a fallen walker with an ankle injury at Beinn Pharlagain, near Rannoch Station and then onto Buachaille Etive Mòr, near Glencoe to airlift a young girl who had a suspected dislocated knee.  The first call-out came yesterday afternoon just after 3.30pm when Police Scotland requested the assistance of the helicopter to take an injured walker to Fort William.  Shortly after winching the casualty onboard the helicopter was  immediately tasked again just after 4.30pm to a young 12 year old girl who'd injured her knee whilst walking with her mother in the Glencoe area.  As darkness and temperatures were falling, the helicopter went straight to the second casualty, with the first casualty still onboard as he did not require immediate hospitalisation.  After a ...