Clocking up 237 lifeboat launches across its four stations
According to provisional figures released by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution today, Wednesday 23rd September, volunteer and full time lifeboat crew members on the River Thames throughout London have had another busy summer, clocking up 237 lifeboat launches across its four stations.
Between June and August, Chiswick launched 52 times.
Overall in the RNLI’s east division, which incorporates London, the south east, and the east of England, the number of summer lifeboat launches rose slightly, from 1,201 in 2008, to 1,258 this summer.
Andrew Ashton, RNLI Divisional Inspector for the east division, says the statistics once again illustrate the vital role RNLI lifeboats play in ensuring people’s safety on the Thames.
"The fact that a London lifeboat station is again the busiest across the British Isles may not be surprising when you consider that London’s population is in excess of 7 million people. That said, only a tiny proportion of these actually live, work or play near the river, so in relative terms Tower is indeed an extremely busy lifeboat station.
"The nature of the work lifeboats do on the Thames in summer differs somewhat to that of stations around the coast of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. You tend not to get the great influx of holidaymakers like you do to beaches on the coast, but we still remain committed to educating people about safety and good practice when on or near the water."
"The RNLI’s lifeboat crews are poised to respond to incidents on the river within 90 seconds of the alert, yet it remains a charity that relies on voluntary contributions to continue saving lives.’
Andrew added: ‘This summer saw the anniversary of the Marchioness tragedy. Although the river is a much safer place today than then, thanks to the RNLI, London Coastguard and the Port of London Authority, these rescue statistics show that the river can pose a danger if the right care and precaution is not taken."
The RNLI offers free all-year-round safety advice for sea users and beach visitors at www.rnli.org.uk
September 23, 2009
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