Broads gain new lifeboat
Posted on April 16th 2010
The Broads has been gifted with a brand new lifeboat, which is due to be named in a ceremony in Oulton Broad. The new £31,000 vessel arrived on Sunday and is set to replace the 12 year veteran boat, Lord Kitchener. The new craft is currently being housed at the South Broads lifeboat station, where it will lay dormant until the ceremony when it will be unleashed into the sea.
The boat has come at a welcome time for the RNLI and local residents, as the summer season is only a few months away. The craft is propelled by a 50hp outboard engine, which allows it to tow larger vessels and makes it faster than its predecessor and enables faster response times to its 100 square mile zone. The craft is also equipped with a range of new technologies such as a VHF radio, GPR and an anchor locker.
The lifeboats operations manager, Keith Wood said: "It is with great pleasure that we as a station take delivery of this much-awaited new boat. Our station has proved since its setting up to be a major facility that all of the emergency services and the public can call upon. This boat will now enable us to continue that service and improve on it, allowing us a greater flexibility and coverage than we previously were capable of."
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