Scottish lifeboat stations and lifeguards host search and rescue experts
Scottish lifeboat stations and lifeguards host search and rescue experts
Lifeboats News Release
Volunteers with the RNLI will show case their lifeboat stations and lifesaving techniques in a visit from search and rescue experts from throughout the world.
RNLI/Nick Mailer
Library photo of RNLI lifeguards at Silver Sands, Aberdour
The RNLI in Scotland is hosting a week-long visit from members of the International Maritime Rescue Federation. (IMRF)
A total of eight representatives from search and rescue organisations in Iceland, Norway, France, Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Finland and Poland are in Scotland from 20-27 September.
Their purpose is to share knowledge in search and rescue techniques and to learn from the RNLI which has been saving lives at sea for more than 200 years.
The lifeboat stations at Oban, Tobermory, Loch Ness, Kessock, Fraserburgh, Aberdeen and Anstruther will stage a variety of events including lifeboat and lifeguard exercises and bring in HM Coastguard to share expertise.
The IMRF has nearly 140 members in more than 50 countries with the RNLI playing an instrumental role in its history by inviting representatives from countries with a lifeboat service to attend the first International Lifeboat Conference, which took place in London in 1924.
Volunteers from the RNLI are invited to visit other countries annually to gain knowledge of international best practices.
They learn about new equipment, training and rescue techniques with the aim of enhancing motivation and engagement.
The Scottish visit includes: a joint exercise between Oban and Tobermory lifeboats; helicopter exercise with Coast Guard 151 and Loch Ness inshore lifeboat on Loch Ness; an afloat exercise with Kessock’s inshore lifeboat and Invergordon’s all-weather lifeboat.
There will also be an exercise with RNLI lifeguards at Silver Sands Beach in Aberdour; an exercise with Fraserburgh’s all-weather lifeboat and wind farm support vessels, and a visit to the Aberdeen Coastguard Operations Centre.
A visit to Bristow’s search and rescue helicopters and a reception at Scottish Parliament to celebrate the role of the RNLI are included.
Notes to editors
Picture: File picture of RNLI lifeguards at Silver Sands, Aberdour. Credit RNLI/Nick Mailer
RNLI media contacts
Regional Communications Manager for Scotland Richard Smith 07826 900639 [email protected]
Regional Communications Lead for Scotland Martin Macnamara 07920 365929, [email protected]
Emma Lees, RNLI Communications Placement for Scotland, 07710 246 495, [email protected]
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.
