Technical fault puts lifeboat out of action

The Douglas Lifeboat Station is out of action due to the lack of a working vessel, the RNLI has confirmed.

The station's lifeboat, Ruby Clery, had been replaced by a relief Mersey Class vessel after suffering a technical failure.

However, that relief boat had to be taken out of action due to "its own technical failure" on 15 May, and would need to be sent elsewhere for repairs leaving the station temporarily out of action.

A spokeswoman for the RNLI said the Ruby Clery had now been repaired and would return to the station "if all goes well with the sea trials" set to take place next week.

She said the organisation was "confident" that there was "sufficient lifeboat coverage" from neighbouring stations at Ramsey and Port St Mary during the period.

The Douglas vessel is set to be retired this year and replaced with a Trent Class lifeboat as an interim solution while talks continue over the future of the existing boathouse.

It has not been confirmed how long repair works for the Mersey class lifeboat would take.

Prior to its move to Douglas, the Ruby Clery previously spent 27 years in Peel, before serving as the Ramsey Lifeboat for three.

The RNLI spokeswoman said that vessel would be lifted back into the water this week to undergo system checks with sea trials planned for next week.

She said, if those checks and sea trials "prove satisfactory", passage arrangements would be made to return the former lifeboat to Douglas.

Returning the former lifeboat was the "quickest, most cost-effective solution" to restore services, she said.

"We understand this is a challenging time for all at station and thank the crew for their patience and understanding," she added.

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