THE Harbours Division of the Isle of Man government has reassured Manx residents that a fully responsive search and rescue service will continue to be provided for the Isle of Man, despite the closure of the Liverpool Coastguard station.
Eight out of 18 Coastguard stations around the UK are being closed, which has led to the Isle of Man Harbours Division assuming greater responsibility for marine rescue management.
It was originally announced in the House of Commons that ten stations would close, with only three remaining open 24 hours a day. However, this has been scaled back, leaving 10 stations with 24-hour cover.
The eight centres to close are Clyde, Forth, Portland, Liverpool, Yarmouth, Brixham, Thames and Swansea.
Although the number of closures is still being challenged by unions, the decision is seen as logical, given the sophistication of today’s communications systems.
"The Coastguard network was set up at a time when communications were really primitive by today’s standards," said Captain Mike Brew, Director of Harbours. "Today, almost everyone has a phone which can send e-mails, log on to the internet and make calls from virtually anywhere, including out at sea.
"As a result, response times are faster than ever before and anyone who gets in trouble offshore is given assistance much quicker than in the past."
He said that the Isle of Man Coastguard already covered 80% of all call-outs in Manx waters and by extending responsibilities to three miles it would mean around 90% of all call-outs would be covered in future from the Island.
He added, "We have discussed this at length with the UK authorities and I want to give a reassurance that the ability to attend any emergency at sea will be maintained efficiently and effectively - just as it is today."
In the future one of the proposals is that the Harbours Division takes over the management of marine emergency responses previously provided by Liverpool Coastguard and either the Holyhead or Belfast stations will be alerted in the event of a major emergency, or for an incident more than 3 miles out to sea.
It is thought 20 jobs will go at the Liverpool Coastguard station at Crosby as a result of its closure. However, Sir Alan Massey, MCA chief executive, said most staff support the changes to the service.
"If you take the whole of the coastguard organisation we will be reducing by about 150 posts.But still yes, I accept that nobody likes to make people redundant or to take jobs away."
