Ireland’s leading maritime newspaper covering the Coastal, Fishing and Maritime Communities

MARINE TIMES NEWS August 23rd:
Kilkeel RNLI hold naming ceremony for station’s new Shannon class lifeboat Bobby Cameron

A new Shannon class lifeboat for Kilkeel RNLI has been officially named Bobby Cameron by the donor, during a ceremony at the county Down lifeboat station on Saturday, 22 August.

The lifeboat which went on service in June this year has been generously donated by Margaret Cameron and is named in memory of her late brother, Robert. The Bobby Cameron replaces the station’s Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Frank William Walton which had served the area for 20 years before its retirement. Lifeboat crew at Kilkeel have undergone months of intensive training to familiarise themselves with the new lifeboat, as the station transitioned from operating an inshore lifeboat to an all-weather lifeboat.

The Shannon is the first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by waterjets instead of traditional propellers, making it the most agile and manoeuvrable all-weather lifeboat developed by the charity. Designed entirely in-house by the RNLI, the Shannon uses cutting-edge technology to ensure the lifeboat meets the demands of a 21st century search and rescue service.

Speaking ahead of the naming ceremony, John Fisher, Kilkeel RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: ‘This is a very special day for everyone associated with Kilkeel lifeboat station. The work that the lifeboat crew have put into getting this wonderful new lifeboat on service has been incredible and this event will be the culmination of many months of hard work and dedication. We were honoured to welcome our donor Margaret Cameron to the station when the lifeboat arrived and now we will have the honour of her officially naming of our lifeboat. We will be the proud custodians of this lifeboat, which in the years to come, will go on to save many lives, through the actions of our brave volunteer crew.’

The vessel is also a legacy lifeboat and carries the names of generous supporters who appear within the letters and numbers that make up the lifeboat’s identifying number.

See the September issu eof the Marine Times Newspaper for a full report and photos from the naming ceremony

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