HM Coastguard

“Help… help!”  “We’re on the rocks and the tide’s coming in…” “Someone’s fallen over the cliff edge. He’s hurt… I can’t get to him…” Every day, around the coast, hundreds of people make a 999 call to Her Majesty’s Coastguard. Whether it’s someone out of their depth in the sea, or who has fallen off a cliff or is stuck in the mud and unable to free themselves, it’s a Coastguard Rescue Team that will be on hand to help. As the emergency service responsible for coordinating maritime search and rescue in the UK, HM Coastguard needs volunteers for its rescue teams. Ordinary people doing an extraordinary job. Coastguard Rescue Teams can be called into action any time, day or night. There are 3,500 volunteers in 347 teams around the coast of the UK, and you could be one of them in Cornwall. Andrew Morris joined the Mullion Coastguard Rescue Team last year. He said that as someone who grew up in that coastal community it was almost inevitable he would put something back into it. ...

Lowered down to a whopping  296ft, it must have been the longest 2 minutes and 55 seconds for one lucky climber who waited while our Coastguard Winchman was lowered down on the wire before his rescue from the Cairngorms yesterday. We got the callout just minutes before 4pm yesterday (30 January) from Police Scotland who had received a report that there was a fallen climber in the Cairngorms with a suspected broken ankle. The Inverness Coastguard helicopter - which was out training at the time - took a little over 10 minutes to arrive on scene in a bid to reach the casualty before the weather closed in. With the assistance of Cairngorms Mountain Rescue Team, they used the full length of their winch cable - 296ft - due the extreme turbulent conditions to airlift the climber, who was safely roped onto steep ground. The casualty was then flown to Raigmore Hospital.  A second climber, who was the injured man's climbing buddy, was uninjured but cragfast had to be ass...

Watch the dramatic moment Caernarfon Coastguard helicopter swoops in to rescue a climber with a fractured leg who was caught in an avalanche on Snowdon. Just after 4.30pm yesterday (29 January) North Wales Police requested HM Coastguard assistance with the rescue after receiving reports  that a  group of three climbers had been caught in the avalanche resulting in one of them falling 75ft and sustaining a suspected broken ankle.   With the assistance of RAF Mountain  Rescue  Valley and  Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team, the Caernarfon Coastguard helicopter was able  to safely recover the injured climber off the mountain. Speaking after the rescue, HM Coastguard Winch Operator Rich Taylor said:   "In support of the Llanberis and RAF Mountain Rescue Teams we recovered a casualty from the Pyg Track in the Snowdon bowl. On arrival the Mountain Rescue Teams had assessed and immobilised the casualty and packaged him in a str...

HM Coastguard is currently assisting Guernsey Coastguard with a search for a light aircraft missing off Alderney in the Channel Islands (in their search and rescue area).  HM Coastguard helicopters from Solent and Newquay have been helping to search overnight with nothing found. 

A former Coastguard with a wealth of experience has been appointed to the vital role of Secretary of State’s Representative (SOSREP) for Maritime Salvage & Intervention, which oversees the response to accidents at sea. Stephan Hennig had previously been working with the Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s Counter Pollution Branch since 2012 and was appointed Deputy to the SOSREP in 2017. The SOSREP is responsible for reducing the risk to safety and the environment arising from accidents at sea. Incidents which were overseen by previous SOSREPs include the Transocean Winner rig grounding off the Isle of Lewis in 2016 and the Hoegh Osaka car carrier incident in the Solent in 2015. Stephan Hennig, SOSRep Picture copyright: Maritime & Coastguard Agency Stephan replaces Les Chapman who left the role last year. Stephan originally  joined the Maritime & Coastguard Agency in 2005, working with the then Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in the Shetland Islands. ...

HM Coastguard is coordinating the response after a commercial rhib collided with a buoy near to Greenwich Pier on the River Thames. The call came in just before 5.40pm today (17 January) reporting the incident. HM Coastguard sent the Tower RNLI lifeboat to the scene. The Police Marine unit is also attending along with London Ambulance Service. There were eight people on board. All are being treated for a range of injuries by London Ambulance at the scene. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency’s enforcement team and duty surveyor have been informed along with the Marine Accident Investigation Branch. We have no further information at this time.

The skipper of the yacht ‘C’est la Vie’ has just reported that he has heard the broadcast action being made by HM Coastguard and that he is safe and well 25 miles south west of the Isles of Scilly. The sailor had been reported as overdue by his shore contact and the French and British Coastguard had been trying to reach him since. Due to the weather conditions, he had to tack further to the west and it had therefore taken much longer than he had hoped to reach the Scillies. He had been out of radio contact range and without a mobile signal for quite some time but as soon as he sailed closer to land he heard the broadcast and contacted the Coastguard. Dai Jones, Controller for HM Coastguard said: “We were concerned for the skipper’s safety and so we’re really pleased that he has been in contact to tell us that he is safe and well. Being able to broadcast continuously can pay dividends and in this case it really helped us to locate him. We had worked out that the sailo...

HM Coastguard received a call at around 11.00 last night (9 January) from a member of the public to report an overdue person who had gone beach fishing in the North Yorkshire area. Coastguard Rescue Teams from Whitby, Ravenscar, Bridlington, Scarborough and Filey, along with Whitby RNLI all weather lifeboat, Filey RNLI inshore and all weather lifeboat, HM Coastguard Search and Rescue Helicopter based at Humberside and National Police Air Service helicopter all attended to assist with the search, with assistance from North Yorkshire Police.   An extensive search was carried out through the night and the person was found. Sadly they were declared deceased on scene and our thoughts are with the family at this time.

HM Coastguard is advising the public to avoid the coastal path and base of the cliff between Oxwich Church and Oxwich Point at Oxwich Beach after a significant rock fall this afternoon, in case of further instability and falls.  Milford Haven Coastguard Operations Centre  received a call from South Wales Police at 3pm today reporting a substantial rock fall at Oxwich Bay Beach, along the coastline towards Oxwich Point.  Police and Oxwich and Rhossili Coastguard Rescue Teams attended  to keep nearby members of the public safe and to cordon the area off to prevent anyone unknowingly putting themselves in danger.   The photographs taken by Oxwich and Rhossili Coastguard Rescue Teams, shows one part of the fall which has slid down the cliff as a block, with trees remaining on the top.   Please credit HM Coastguard if using this photograph. The size of the fall is estimated to cover an area of 30 metres by 30 metres and is reportedly la...

The man was seriously hurt. Although he was alive he was in a precarious position on cliffs on St Kilda, on the Outer Hebrides, Scotland with a 200 foot drop below him. It became clear that the helicopter from Stornoway would not be able to get him out. Step forward the Coastguard Rescue Teams, who've been nominated for an award and have been retelling the story of that day. Ask station officer Willie Campbell about the geographic challenges the teams faced that day and he’ll shake his head. ‘Imagine the most remote place you can think of,’ he said, ‘And even then it’s probably not as remote as this cliff in St Kilda.’ The call came in around 12.20pm on 26 June 2018. Stornoway Coastguard Operations Centre was told that an 87-year-old man had slipped and fallen. It was quickly decided to send a Coastguard Rescue Team with rope rescue equipment so the man could be loaded to the helicopter for transfer. Stornoway, South Lochs, Bragar, Tarbert and Scalpay Coastguard Rescue Teams ...