New £2.2m Seahouses lifeboat officially placed on service after intensive training period for crew

The Shannon class arrived at the Northumberland coastal port in October and crew have been training on it since then.

The old lifeboat, Mersey class ‘Grace Darling’ has been retired as the station lifeboat. She faces an uncertain future, and could either become a relief (spare) lifeboat, or be sold out of service.

Seahouses lifeboat operations manager Ian Clayton said: “This is a proud day for the crew at Seahouses, who have worked tirelessly to reach the stage where the RNLI were satisfied that the crew were competent to operate the new craft.

"The advanced technology, speed and increased range of the new boat will enhance the station’s life saving ability, and we all look forward to continue training on the new boat as well as now being able to use her to respond to operational rescue incidents.”

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