Kilkeel RNLI attend bell ringing ceremony for new Shannon class lifeboat

This event is held when a new Shannon class lifeboat leaves the production line and is placed, for the first time, in the water. Led by Kilkeel RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager John Fisher, the group were present to see the station’s new £2.7m lifeboat completed and to tour the facility where the lifeboat was built.

RNLI Chief Executive Peter Sparkes was on hand to welcome the group and witness the ceremony. It was also an opportunity for the station to meet with the engineers and technicians who had built the lifeboat and to hear about its capabilities. The lifeboat will not yet be coming to its new home as there will be a period of intensive seagoing trials in Poole, which will see lifeboat crew travel from Kilkeel to take part in, before the lifeboat will make its journey to its new home in Kilkeel.

Commenting on the trip, Kilkeel RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager John Fisher said, ‘I’d like to thank everyone for their support and good wishes to us as we embark on this journey. There’s a lot of work ahead for the station, but we are more than ready for it. I am very grateful to the RNLI for their trust in the station and the volunteer lifeboat crew here, to operate and look after this new lifeboat. Our crew have always maintained their lifeboats to the highest standards, and this is a significant investment in lifesaving on our coast, one that will go on to save many lives.’

The new Shannon class lifeboat comes following a recent Lifesaving Effect Review carried out by the RNLI into its search and rescue assets on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland which will see three new lifeboats put on service at Newcastle and Kilkeel stations by the end of the year. As well as Kilkeel’s Shannon lifeboat, volunteer lifeboat crews in Newcastle RNLI are set to welcome a new Atlantic 85 lifeboat and D-class lifeboat. These lifesaving assets represent a new era of lifesaving on the north-east coast.

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The RNLI is the charity that 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 146,700 lives.

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