The RNLI Dungeness lifeboat the Littlestone lifeboat from New Romney and a coastguard search and rescue have all been scrambled to reports of a red flare being spotted by a member of the public in the St Mary’s Bay area of the town. The sighting was first reported just before 9 pm on Thursday evening.
A member of the public reported the sighting of red flares being spotted near the Cabu by the sea to the UK Coastguard in Dover who ordered that lifeboats and search teams be scrambled to investigate the sighting.
Red flares, either fired as a rocket or held in the hand, are widely used as a maritime distress signal.
Dungeness all-weather Shannon class lifeboat “The Morrell” and her volunteer crew launched at 8.55 pm on Thursday (February 17) and immediately began following a search pattern heading towards the reported sighing. spotted in St Mary’s Bay.
The RNLI crew used the lifeboat’s radar and searchlights to look for any potential vessels or people in distress, while local Coastguard Rescue Teams searched along the shoreline.
A second lifeboat has also joined the search from Littlestone to assist in searching the shoreline following reports of further flares being spotted
When Dungeness RNLI lifeboat completed the first leg of its search, the crew liaised with the coastguard that had spoken to those who had reported the flare to establish any further information about the potential casualty. The lifeboat then headed back to the west, expanding the search further out into Bay.
The RNLI crews have investigated a number of possible targets detected by its radar with no casualties have been located by the lifeboat or Coastguard teams, the UK Coastguard Operations Centre at Dover are coordinating the search
More to follow
