States to be asked to approve new lifeboat service

Wednesday 17 January 2018

States Members in Jersey will be asked to effectively choose between the RNLI and a local lifeboat service just a few months before a general election.

Senator Sarah Ferguson has submitted a petition with nearly 7,000 signatures to the States Assembly in a bid to get their seal of approval for the new Independent Lifeboat Service.

It follows a months-long conflict between the RNLI and the rescue service’s former St. Helier crew, which resulted in the crew leaving their positions and vowing to set up their own service.

The RNLI’s St Helier operation was temporarily suspended as a result, but is now back in action after new volunteers were recruited.

Senator Ferguson, who is part of a steering committee for the new service, says that her motion is not aimed at securing financial support from the States, but simply “local recognition as an important part of the Jersey contribution to the search and rescue facilities of the area.”

Pictured: Senator Sarah Ferguson is seeking to get the States' blessing for the new lifeboat service.

 She added that her proposals do not seek to “rehearse all the problems that led up to the situation.” Instead, she says, “it is intended to concentrate on moving forward to establish an independent AWLB station in Jersey, supported by the local population and providing the lifeboat service for the Island, by the Island and financed by the Island.”

While States support for the independent service would not spell the end of the island’s 120-year relationship with the RNLI, who also operate an in-shore service, the St Catherine's Lifeboat, and the beach lifeguards, it is still unclear exactly how rescue missions would be delegated between each operation in local waters.

Senator Ferguson explained that the fledgling service was in the process of developing links with around 70 other independent lifeboat stations across the British Isles. 

She also promised that the new service would abide by “best practice and procedures” and participate in the current Search and Rescue System organisation in French and Channel Island seas.

Politicians will debate whether to give the new service their stamp of approval on 20 February - a vote likely to be closely watched, with politicians making their choice just three months before the General Election.