The RNLI had the busiest ever year for rescues in 2003, but incidents involving divers were down on 2002 figures.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institute rescued more people and attended more incidents in 2003 than at any recorded year in it's history - lifeboats were launched over 8,000 times, with an average of 21 people rescued every day.

The busiest lifeboat station was Poole in Dorset, home to many amateur yachties, where 175 launches resulted in 190 people being rescued.

Call-outs involving divers fell from 174 launches in 2002 to 156 launches in 2003, bucking the trend of rising rescues. So what do the figures mean?

"We're very encouraged," commented Rick Raeburn, Leisure Boat Safety Manager for the RNLI "particularly because 2003 was a summer with good weather and there was lots of diving taking place." He told Divernet that he attributes the good figures to a number of factors.

"We have been working with the British Diving Safety Group - which brings together all the diving agencies - to promote better awareness of boat safety. Also I would say that there are less club-owned boats, which do tend to get thrashed. Club RIBs are often put away over winter and are then re-launched at the start of the season with a high proportion of breakdowns. Also, more disposable income means that a lot of RIBs are owned by individuals, and these people tend to take better care of the boats."

The statistics support this view; while dive groups with boat engine failure - the most frequent cause of a call out - prompted 51 lifeboat launches in 2002, the figure was just 37 in 2003.

Perhaps the drop in incidents is down to a drop in the number of dives taking place? "No, I don't think so," said Raeburn, "in my experience the dive sites are busier than ever."

Does the suggestion that there are less club-owned boats ring true with people at the sharp end of diving? Divernet contacted the Breakwater dive centre which fronts the free-usage slipway on Portland, one of the busiest diving locations in the UK. Lorraine Penfold who works at the centre confirmed that most divers are now looking for hardboat dives "At least 70% of our enquiries are from divers looking for dives on hard boats."

Less diving from amateur-run RIBs and a higher take up of spaces on professionally skippered hardboats could well be a factor in the drop in diver-related RNLI launches.


Related pages
RNLI launches Dive Safely pack for UK divers
RNLI website



News Index Page