Ramsgate RNLI’s all weather lifeboat Diamond Jubilee was launched last night (March 4) in response to reports of the activation of a personal locator beacon.
The call from HM Coastguard came through at 9.45pm with the Lifeboat launched at 9.55pm.
Initial reports gave a 50-mile search area but that was soon reduced to a five mile area with the Diamond Jubilee conducting a stepped shoreline search from Sandown Castle near Deal, up to North Foreland and back.
Due to it being a new crescent moon, the night was very dark so the search was carried out using radar, searchlights and the VHF Direction Finder in the calm sea.
A Coastguard helicopter was launched to aid the search, alongside the Coastguard mobile teams as it was uncertain whether the beacon had been activated in the sea or on land.
At 00.30am the personal locator beacon was located ashore by the helicopter and all assets were stood down.
The volunteer crew of the Diamond Jubilee were glad to return home as it had been a long day, earlier that day they had been on a training exercise and had only finished the session at 8pm.
A personal locator beacon is a small device that sends a personalised distress signal to search and rescue services when activated. They are used at sea as well as ashore and can be used on their own or in conjunction with a mobile phone. They are of particular use when people are out of range of cell phone service.
This is a partial story as it doesn’t confirm where it was found onshore or why it was set off.