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RNLI takes over lifeboat operations at Cowes
28 Aug 2008
The UK's Royal National Lifeboat Institution has recently taken over the operation of the lifeboat at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The service was previously operated by the independent Cowes Inshore Lifeboat service.
An Atlantic 85 class inshore lifeboat similar to the one currently operating at West Cowes. (Photo RNLI/Peter Williams)
The area is one of the busiest stretches of water in the country and an important and busy one for the leisure boating industry.
Particularly during the summer months, large numbers of people enjoying various forms of leisure boating rub shoulders with the commercial activity that includes several high speed and conventional ferry routes to and from the Isle of Wight.
Commercial vessels of all sizes pass close to Cowes bound for Southampton, whose callers include large container and cruise ships. Downstream in Southampton Water the huge ExxonMobil oil refinery at Fawley, the largest in the UK, handles around 2,000 ship movements annually.
By Peter Barker
Read the full story in the September issue of Maritime Journal.
Images for this article - click to enlarge
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