The first of a revolutionary new type of lifeboat to go into service in Scotland has reached its home at the country's oldest lifeboat station.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution’s Shannon class vessel based at the Montrose station is the first all-weather lifeboat to be powered by water-jets rather than traditional propellers, making it the most agile and manoeuvrable lifeboat in the charity’s fleet.
The cost of the lifeboat was bequeathed to the RNLI by supporter Ruth Grant Smith who died in 2005 and had left money to fund an all-weather lifeboat which was to be named after her husband Ian Grant Smith and launched in Scotland.
Each Shannon costs £2.1 million and although it has an operational lifetime of 25 years, the life expectancy of the Shannon's hull and wheelhouse is 50 years.
Water-jets allow the vessel to operate in shallow waters and be intentionally beached, and it can be used when precision movements such as operating alongside a stricken vessel are required.
Capable of 25 knots, the new lifeboat is 50 per cent faster than RNLB Moonbeam, the Tyne class all-weather lifeboat she will replace.
Moonbeam has been the Montrose lifeboat for the past 25 years but has now come to the end of her operational life. The station at Montrose is more than 200 years old.
Ray Wilkie, RNLI lifeboat operations manager, said: "We’re very pleased to finally have the Shannon on station so that the crew can really get to grips with the new boat.
"Moonbeam will remain on service at the station while the crew put in extra hours to familiarise themselves with the Shannon.’
Scott Murray, coxswain, said: "The new boat is faster and more manoeuvrable than Moonbeam and the way it handles is very impressive.
"All this means that we’ll be able to reach casualties more quickly.
"This is a huge leap forward in lifeboat design and will allow us to continue to do our work knowing that we couldn’t have a better lifeboat to go to sea with."
Paul Jennings, divisional operations manager said "The Shannon’s impressive manoeuvrability combined with a shallow draft mean that it will be able to operate close to rocks and other vessels, it will also be well suited to the beaches in the Esk Estuary."
This will be the 10th Shannon class lifeboat the RNLI has put on service to date in the UK with plans to build more than 50 in the coming years.
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