Lifeboat response times cut by half

Ongoing work at Buncrana Pier has been hailed as life-saving, cutting lifeboat “999” response times in half and more than doubling working hours for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Bill Martin, Assistant Harbour Master with Derry Port and Harbour, outlined the work being carried out. “We’ve been contracted by Buncrana County Council to dredge the quay here because they had a problem with the RNLI boat because she can’t get out in low Spring tides,” he said. “We dug the basin out and what we’re trying to maintain is a 15 metre channel the whole way out to a two metre band, which is about 450 metres off the quay.” Mr Martin said over 8,500 tonnes of sand had moved over the last five weeks to allow the lifeboat optimum operation but said the job would need to maintained. John McCarter, Deputy Launching Authority with the RNLI, said the work of the dredger at the pier was invaluable in life-saving as it would enable the RNLI to work from the pier safely and efficiently. “The job that’s ongoing at the minute with the dredger is that it’s opening up both our berth and a channel to the lough, a working channel that enables us to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year or as near as possible to that,” he said. “What that gives us is a safe working environment because if we were moored out, as we have been in the past, there are all sorts of safety issues in getting a crew from the shore in a tender boat out to the main vessel and getting off the mooring.” Mr McCarter said the improvements would cut response times by an astonishing 50 per cent. “From our pagers go off we can have our Atlantic inshore craft on the way, on the water and on the way to a casualty within seven minutes and our big boat which is moored at the pier in about 10 minutes,” he said. “When we are moored out, you’re talking about 20 minutes. So this cuts the time in half. “In terms of life at sea, minutes can make the difference in saving a casualty or having a tragedy on your hands.” He also added the lifeboat responded many times in perilous weather conditions and the current offshore mooring was a hazard to the entire crew, however, now with the sand dredged, the Buncrana Pier was a safe and ideal location for the RNLI to be berthed with an all-weather boat. “Before the Otterbank came in to dredge, we were probably down to to being operational 10 hours out of 24, so when they finish this job we will hopefully be back to working 24 hours,” said Mr McCarter.