HM Coastguard: Stornoway

(asked on 8th December 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Stornoway was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in (a) October and (b) November 2014.


Answered by
John Hayes Portrait
John Hayes
This question was answered on 15th December 2014

Stornoway Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) was staffed below risk assessed levels during:

a) October 2014 – 40 occasions out of 62 shifts

b) November 2014 – 40 occasions out of 60 shifts

Where there are specific issues at a MRCC Her Majesty’s Coastguard is using the current long established pairing arrangements between MRCCs. This enables each MRCC to be connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.

These historic risk assessed watch level assessments at MRCCs err strongly on the side of caution. As each MRCC joins the evolving national network the number of Coastguards at any of the individual centres becomes less significant. The flexibility of the new arrangements gives a new significance to the number of Coastguards available on the growing network.

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