Ryde Inshore Rescue has been stood down by His Majesty’s Coastguard meaning the independent, life-saving service will no longer be tasked to emergencies on the Solent.
Island Echo can reveal that bosses at HM Coastguard have taken the unusual decision to temporarily remove the service from the list of declared assets available for search and rescue operations.
When you call 999 and ask for the Coastguard, operators at the other end of the line look at the available resources in the local area including lifeboats, helicopters and Coastguard Rescue Teams. The most appropriate resource is then tasked to respond to the emergency, which sometimes includes independent lifeboat stations such as Ryde.
However, following the recent decision by HM Coastguard to stand down the volunteers, the operators won’t see Ryde Inshore Rescue as an available resource anymore.
It means that if there is an emergency on Ryde Sands the nearest lifeboat will now come from either Bembridge, Portsmouth, Gosport or Cowes – something seen multiple times over the past 12 months or so due to unrelated unavailability from Ryde-based volunteers.
It has not been disclosed what exactly has forced the recent decision, or how long it will be until Ryde Inshore Rescue is reconsidered for approval as a declared asset. Island Echo understands the service failed a recent inspection.
A spokesperson for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has confirmed to Island Echo:
“Ryde Inshore Rescue has been temporarily stood down from the list of declared assets available for search and rescue. HM Coastguard are working with them to bring their lifeboats back into service as soon as possible.
Article continues below this advertisement “HM Coastguard will call upon a range of search and rescue assets, including lifeboats, HM Coastguard helicopters, and Coastguard Rescue Teams to ensure any emergency can be responded to with appropriate resources”.
News of an uncertain future brings into question fundraising efforts by the charity, which continues to seek funds but cannot function as the service it portrays to be. The charity’s mission states that it exists to ‘prevent the loss of life at sea by the provision and maintenance of an efficient inshore lifeboat service in full co-operation with other services’.
The charity’s latest accounts – which were filed 22 days late – show that in the financial year ending September 2023, expenditure totalled £76,000 with only £44,000 received in income, although supported by a buoyant bank balance of more than £80,000.
In the past 5 years alone the charity’s outgoings are reported to be £335,000, with a large percentage of that spend being on new boats, tractors and other equipment – none of which is now being utilised as a recognised search and rescue asset.
Ryde Inshore Rescue’s origins date back to the 1950s, with the association with HM Coastguard as a search and rescue asset forged in 1969. By 1980 the lifeguard unit had transformed into a full inshore rescue lifeboat service and became a registered charity, growing to run 2 inshore lifeboats by 2007.
Ryde Rescue 1 – which has already seen complete replacement of its engines since purchased just 6 years ago – has been taken out of the water and is understood to be undergoing maintenance works at Bembridge Harbour.
Island Echo approached Ryde Inshore Rescue for a statement on Friday, but no response has been received at the time of publication.
Peter Andre will be sad to hear this.