About Maryport Inshore Rescue

Maryport Inshore Rescue is an Independent Lifeboat which is not part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RLNI) Rescue Service to the Solway Firth and surrounding areas.  We work closely with the RNLI and all the other emergency services. The crew is available 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, in all-weather to answer calls from H.M. Coastguard, Police, Fire and Rescue Service and the general public. We are an entirely self-funded not for profit service, with no formal links or partnerships with other organisations.  All our crew are volunteers trained to national and international standards who selflessly work hard to provide this vital service in a coastal community. Our boat house is a newly built operating base, and purpose built for Maryport Rescue to aid us in all of the vital lifesaving service we provide. The station was opened in June 2014 by Sir Tony Cunningham. The new base has over 3 times the floor space and helps us to respond to call outs much faster. We have 3 vehicles and two boats in our rescue service. One Ford launch vehicle for the launch of the ILB. Two Landover’s (one of which was kindly donated by Cockermouth mountain rescue) for transporting casualties, crew and other emergency services as well as our ERB. The Emergency rescue boat (ERB) is an inflatable Zodiac boat with a 40Hp engine for use in flood waters, rivers and close shoreline work.

E-ON Spirit of Maryport our Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) was received on station in May 2008. She is a 9mtr RIB (Ridged Inflatable Boat) with twin 175Hp (350Hp) engines built for offshore work with a larger operational area. With the change and development in the requirements for rescue services in 2009 Maryport Rescue started a SWT (Swift Water Technician) team specialising in rescues form fast moving and inland waters. This in recent years has proven to be a pivotal service which we provide as we carry out searches and rescues such as the Cockermouth floods in 2009. We rely entirely on kind donations from members of the public and businesses to stay afloat.  We have been established now for over 35 years and have rescued many people throughout that time. We would like to say thank you to all who have donated and supported us over the years and helped keep this service operational. Our Lifeboat, Vehicles, Pagers and Station costs are around £20,000 per year… every year.  Not to mention the additional costs for training, equipment & fuel etc.