Coastguard - The Future

The Coastguard has made this announcement today on the future of the Coastguard

"I am writing to let you know that following the independent review of the responses of the second period of consultation on our proposals to modernise Her Majesty's Coastguard the Secretary of State for Transport has today announced the Government's decision. This can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-searchandrescue.htm

This means that we have now begun the process of moving to a national networked Coastguard operation with a Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) at its heart. We're also able to announce today that the MOC will be located near Fareham in Hampshire at a purpose built emergency services control centre that was originally designated as a fire control centre.

In addition to this centre there will also be Coastguard centres. at Dover, Aberdeen, Shetland, Stornoway, Belfast, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Falmouth and Humber all operating 24/7. The London coordination centre will continue to be co-located with the Port of London Authority.

We are also improving the leadership of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service by strengthening the numbers of existing regular Coastguard officers based in these coastal communities and I'm also pleased to be able to announce that the Coastguard Rescue Service will be strengthened by an increase of 50% to the number of full time officers available to the volunteers for operational attendance, leadership and advice.

This will allow much more flexibility in the management and training of our volunteers and help to remove the current uneven distribution of Coastguard Rescue Teams between their management.

It will also give a greater presence of Coastguard officers in coastal communities and provide increased opportunity for interaction with other emergency services and coastal leisure and commercial bodies.

These officers will operate in teams with a focal point or operational hub. It is intended that these will be based in;

Existing Centres

Lerwick

Aberdeen,

Bridlington,

Walton-on-the-Naze,

Dover,

Falmouth,

Swansea,

Liverpool,

Belfast

Stornoway.

Additional Centres

Moray Firth

Northeast England,

Southampton/Portsmouth,

Dorset,

North Devon,

Cardigan Bay,

Strathclyde

Oban/Fort William

I know that you like me will be acutely aware that whilst this announcement is the beginning of a new era for HM Coastguard it will a time of massive change for colleagues currently based in Yarmouth, Thames, Solent, Portland, Brixham, Swansea, Liverpool, Forth and Clyde whose stations will be closing before 31 March 2015.

This structural change is about the way the regular Coastguard service coordinates search and rescue operations. It is not about the UK's rescue capability. Although we are reducing staff numbers, our new structure will give the UK a nationally networked Coastguard service that is resilient, effective and efficient. We will continue to provide a quality safety service to the mariner and coastal user and I'd like to thank you for your continued support as we move forward."

Full details on the MCA website

Portland Coastguard, this is Swanage calling.....

Some of the team went down to Portland Coastguard MRCC (the "ops room") this evening to get to meet our colleagues, put faces to voices heard over the radio and importantly to get an understanding of what goes on in the ops room when there's an incident in progress.

We saw how calls come in, how our teams are tasked, how to predict the location of a drifting vessel and we also had a look at the AIS system - a real time display charting the position, direction and speed of any ship in a given area. By drilling down further the operator can get details such as type of vessel, home port etc and we took a closer look at a couple of ships including the Condor ferry making its way back to Weymouth and a strangely named cargo vessel somewhere off Lyme Bay.

Our thanks go to the good people of C Watch for showing us around.

Oh, and Oz got to have a go on the computer....

...or did he.

The mystery surounding the chap who may/may not have jumped into the sea deepens.

It would appear that the chap is Spanish, and may have made the whole story up. Why he was wearing a wetsuit under his clothes, and why he chose to fabricate a story is still under investigation. One thing the scenario did clearly demonstrate was the ability of HM Coastguard and RNLI to put a rescue plan into action so quickly.

We often forget the operations room (Ops Room) who yesterday morning played a blinder in the co-ordination of a large number of search units with constantly changing information; much which was conflicting. It gives the teams on the ground (and sea/air) real confidence. Well done Portland Coastguard Ops Room.

I'm sure Ian will have more to say on this subject.

IRT or BURT

Initial Response Team (IRT) or Back Up Response Team (BURT), the two different stages of a Coastguard call out.

When an incident starts, the watch officers at the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) decide what resources are required.

Taking today’s incident with the yacht, Swanage Lifeboat is launched to assist the yacht, whilst this is being done, Coastguards are required to be the eyes and ears on the ground for the staff in the centres reporting back any additional information required whilst the lifeboat crew deal with the tow.

Not all the team is required for such an incident so an IRT is requested; the IRT normally consists of two Coastguard Rescue Officers (CRO’s) however that can increase depending on the type of incident.
Should a search of cliff incident occur then the whole team (BURT) is requested straight away, a cliff incident requires a minimum of eight CRO’s and of course a search requires as many as possible to cover the area as quickly as possible.

The yacht towed in by Swanage Lifeboat today, the IRT monitored the lifeboat until safely back on the slip. Normally the IRT would also discuss with the skipper what had happened and offer advice if required, today the crew of the yacht remained on board the yacht.

A day out.......to Weymouth

Today Austen and I attended the annual Station Officers meeting at Portland Coastguard. The meeting is a chance for all the Station Officers (SO's) and Deputies (DSO's) from the whole of the Portland District (Hants/Dorset border down to Exmouth) to get together and discuss any issues and share good practices.

What many people don't realise is that "Portland Coastguard"(our co ordination centre, aka the ops room) is in fact on the quay at Weymouth!

The operations room is where our full time Coastguards work, answering 999 calls, monitoring radio channels , launching lifeboats, scrambling helicopters and tasking Coastguard rescue teams. I would say that in the summer this place can get very busy, however with the Napoli and the Ice Prince to name a few the winter months can equally be busy.