Lifeboats called out extra 123 times last year (From Penarth Times)

Lifeboats called out extra 123 times last year

RESCUE statistics issued on Tuesday by the Royal National Lifeboat Insti-tution show RNLI life-boats in Wales launched a record 1,154 times during 2005 - a 15 per cent increase on 2004.

The charity's volunteer lifeboat crews rescued 1,049 people off the Welsh coast, compared with 1,031 in 2004.

Last year was also the RNLI's busiest ever year nationally. RNLI lifeboats launched 8,273 times compared with 7,656 the previous year, up by eight per cent.

It has been a particularly busy period for the volunteer RNLI crews in South Wales.

Lifeboat launches at Barry Dock have risen from 23 in 2004 to 32 in 2005, with the volunteer crew rescuing almost twice as many people as the previous year.

Launches at Atlantic College more than doubled in 2005, with the volunteer RNLI crew rescuing three times as many casualties as in 2004.

The Mumbles was the fourth busiest lifeboat station in Wales, with 64 lifeboat launches compared with 55 in 2004.

RNLI crews at Penarth, Porthcawl and Port Talbot also experienced an increase in calls out.

The busiest lifeboat station in Wales, as in 2004 was Rhyl.

The resort's lifeboats launched 107 times, rescuing 76 people, compared with 81 launches and 60 people rescued in 2004.

The biggest increase has been in RNLI inshore lifeboat launches, which have increased from 751 in 2004, to 880 in 2005.

Andy Clift, RNLI divisional inspector for Wales, attributes this trend to the growing number of people using the sea for leisure.

"We have seen some exceptional, skilful rescues off the west coast in 2005 that have been a real credit to our volunteers," he said.

"The highly trained men and women who crew our lifeboats are having to deal with new demands caused by the increase in popularity of activities such as kite surfing and jetskiing.

"Not only are we seeing a strain on operational resources, but are also having to train our lifeboat crews to enable them to deal with a widening variety of incidents and craft.

"In addition to this, the summer of 2005 saw people flock to our beaches, which meant lifeboat crews were regularly called out - sometimes several times a day - to help locate missing children or rescue casualties being blown out to sea on inflatables."

Mr Clift paid tribute to RNLI volunteers, saying: "My heartfelt thanks go to our volunteers and supporters, without whom none of the rescues would have been possible.

"It is not only the time at sea our crews give voluntarily, but with only 10 per cent of our volunteers coming from a traditional maritime background, hours of regular training are essential to ensure they are at the peak of their skills."

To ensure the charity is able to provide its volunteer crews with the best possible training, the RNLI launched a fundraising appeal last year called Train One, Save Many.

The appeal aims to raise 10million over five years to make sure volunteer lifeboatmen and women can continue to save lives at sea as safely and effectively as possible.