Southend RNLI volunteers assist with controlled detonation of ordinance
Dover Coastguard requested Southend-on-Sea RNLI volunteers to assist with the controlled detonation of ordinance found to the east of Canvey point. The charity’s hovercraft, H004 Vera Ravine was launched at 4pm Sunday afternoon 27 April 2025.
Due to the location of the ordinance, the RNLI volunteers were tasked to picking up Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) and Coastguard rescue teams from the Island Yacht Club slipway and conveying them to the site of the ordinance approximately 1 nautical mile east of Canvey point.
Initially the Coastguard rescue team were conveyed to the site by RNLI hovercraft to confirm the item was ordinance. Once that it was established to be ordinance, the EOD team was called in to safely dispose of it.
The ordinance was rigged for a controlled detonation, all teams retired to a safe distance before the EOD team detonated the ordinance making it safe. A check after the detonation confirmed the disposal had been successful.
Southend RNLI hovercraft Commander Dave Cartwright said: ‘This is not your run of the mill RNLI job, but this was potentially dangerous ordinance, a danger to public as are the banks where it was found. The safest option was to convey the teams by hovercraft to and from the shore so that a controlled detonation could be carried out’.
The Thames estuary often reveals ordinance within its shifting sand and mud flats. If you find anything suspicious that could be ordinance around our coast, do not touch it, call 999 and report it to the Coastguard.
This turned out to be a long afternoon for the RNLI volunteers, who returned to station at 8pm Sunday evening. The time between conveying the teams was not wasted however as the RNLI volunteers carried out some local operating procedure training.
For further information please contact:
- Nigel Gilchrist. Lifeboat Press Officer at Southend-on-Sea RNLI [email protected] or 07765875300
- Hatti Mellor | RNLI Regional Communications Manager – South East, [email protected]
- For enquiries outside normal business hours, contact the RNLI duty press officer on 01202 336789
Notes to Editors:
- Southend RNLI is one of the busiest coastal stations across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
- Southend RNLI cover approximately fifteen miles of shore from Shoeburyness to Canvey and beyond.
- For more information, please visit http://www.southendlifeboat.org/
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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 over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, 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.
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.
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