HM Coastguard

  The company owners of two UK-registered fishing vessels which went to sea without the correct certification have been found guilty in a prosecution by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and fined a total of £4,000. Pictured above, the MCA's headquarters in Southampton. Philomena Trawlers Ltd and D&G Seafoods Ltd were represented by defence lawyer Paul Rogers at the hearing at Southampton Magistrates Court on Friday, August 28. Both companies pleaded guilty to charges of   offences Contrary to Regulations 5(1)(b) and 5(4) of the Fishing Vessels (Codes of Practice) Regulations 2017 .   Philomena Trawlers Ltd were fined £1,000 and D&G Seafoods Ltd were fined £3,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,380.00. The court heard how scalloping trawlers Camm Courageous and the Sea Lady, owned by companies Philomena Trawlers Ltd and D&G Seafoods Ltd respectively, went to sea with invalid or expired International Fishing Vessel Certificates on 14 July 2020. Two...

Almost 13,000 people have needed the help of HM Coastguard since the beginning of this summer – this weekend, don’t become another statistic. As the UK looks set for a mix of weather this coming Bank Holiday weekend, coastguards are warning people to follow the safety advice and not to take any risks at the coast or in the sea. It has been HM Coastguard’s busiest-ever summer on record, with the emergency service dealing with 12,752 incidents since the start of June up until 26 August. This has involved call-outs for Coastguard Rescue Teams, search and rescue responses with aircraft, RNLI and independent lifeboats and hovercrafts, as well as work to support emergency service partners. This summer’s overall incident count is an increase of 16% when compared to the corresponding period last summer (10,884 incidents between 1 June and 26 August 2019). This August alone, the coastguard has responded to nearly 5,000 incidents at the coast – a rise of about 1,000 when compared to August 2019 ...

HM Coastguard dealt with 340 individual incidents across the whole of the UK on Saturday (8th August) – our highest amount of call-outs in a single day for well over four years. Packed coastlines and beaches kept us very busy throughout another hot heatwave day, which saw Coastguard Rescue Teams attend 221 incidents. Both the RNLI and independent lifeboats were called out on 155 occasions combined and aircraft (30 taskings) were also used to assist at the coast and sea. HM Coastguard responded to 186 999 calls yesterday and coordinated search and rescue responses to a wide-range of incidents, which included people being cut off by the tide and children swept out to sea on inflatables. In total, the service rescued 146 people and assisted a further 371 people. Saturday’s incident count (340) represents a significant 145% increase when compared to the average amount of call-outs we recorded throughout August 2019. The count also surpasses our previous (and recent) busiest day over the pa...

The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Stornoway winched all of the eight-person crew to safety from a cargo vessel which had ran aground in adverse weather conditions in the early hours of Monday (23rd March). Despite strong winds and complete darkness, the helicopter was able to successfully evacuate all on-board. Portree RNLI lifeboat were also involved in the rescue. The vessel, which made contact with the Coastguard and reported taking on water, now remains on hard ground at Sgeir Graidach rock in the Minch in north-west Scotland - and is being monitored by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency's Emergency Towing Vessel, Ievoli Black. Watch the video of the helicopter airlifting one crew member from the vessel below:

Imagine this. A total stranger saves your life by stepping in to help you at a time of emergency, but you have no way of thanking them? In fact, you don’t know their full name, whether you will ever see them again and have only a tiny clue to who and where they might be. Back in September of this year, holidaymaker Liam Muns, 34, who was in Disneyland Paris, suffered a major health scare after choking on his food at a restaurant one evening. A first aider was needed and thankfully sitting just a few tables away from Liam and his family was Harry Patrick, a volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officer with Mullion Coastguard Rescue Team, who was on holiday too, with his family. Earlier this year – in June, Harry acquired new-found first-aid and life-support training skills as part of his operator role with HM Coastguard, and he was able to put that knowledge to use there and then, in the heat of the moment. Liam Muns Indeed, his intervention – alongside one other person who of...

Two people were dramatically rescued off Cornwall early this morning (18th November) after their sailing vessel began taking on water and started to sink. Falmouth Coastguard received a radio mayday broadcast at 5.18am from the two people on board the 70-feet yacht, reporting that the vessel was 21 nautical miles north of the Isles of Scilly and the on-board electrics and pump had failed due to the incoming water. It meant that they could not stop the water flow, which continued to increase. The crew, who were wearing life jackets, launched the life raft, climbed aboard and abandoned the yacht after sending their mayday message. The Coastguard Search and Rescue Helicopter (R924) from Newquay and the St Ives RNLI all-weather lifeboat were sent to the rescue by Falmouth Coastguard. A nearby fishing vessel, Cornishman, had also heard the radio distress message and went to offer help. The search and rescue helicopter from Newquay arrived at 6.15am and quickly spotted the two m...

Watch the dramatic moment when a man was rescued by a HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter in a remote area of Cornwall on Sunday (10th November). The team on-board Newquay-based Sikorsky S92 aircraft were actually airborne and on their way to Land’s End for a routine training exercise – but received contact from the Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team and the Aeronautical Rescue Co-ordination Centre (ARCC), reporting that a man had fallen into the water at Porthcothan, a coastal village between Newquay and Padstow. Walkers at Park Head cliff tops in Porthcothan saw a local fisherman washed off the rocks at Bedruthan Steps and straight into freezing cold seawater. Responding to the incident straightaway, the search and rescue helicopter headed to the scene but were roughly 30 minutes or so away from caring to the man. Fortunately, during the time it took for the search and rescue team to arrive at Porthcothan, a quick-thinking member of the public managed to throw a life-ring...