The new Shannon Class Lifeboat, Lois Ivan, will set sail from Poole today and is expected in Whitby on Sunday.
Five members of Whitby RNLI's volunteer crew have been at the RNLI College in Poole doing their final training on the vessel this week.
The new boat has the number 1349 on the side of the lifeboat, the numbers have special significance as the decals are home to names of 10,000 loved ones added by donors as part of the Launch a Memory campaign.
Today the crew will depart Poole on the lifeboat and bring it up to Whitby, the plan is to arrive at 13.49 on Sunday 11 June, subject to there being no delays on the passage.
After the new lifeboat arrives in Whitby a period of intense training will begin for the volunteers, as they get to grips with the new technology on the lifeboat.
Whitby RNLI Coxswain Howard Fields said:
'The crew are really excited to get started, the hard work will start when the lifeboat arrives, and our volunteers put in extra hours of training to become competent on the new lifeboat. It is an exciting change for them and we are sure the people of Whitby will enjoy seeing the new lifeboat on exercise at sea as it becomes part of the furniture in the harbour.'
During the initial few weeks of training before the new lifeboat is fully operational the current Trent class will remain on service, berthed at the station. The Shannon will be at sea daily as the crew undergo this vital training, so the lifeboat may not be always visible within the harbour.
Later in the year the Shannon lifeboat will sit afloat alongside a pontoon at the lifeboat station. The existing pontoon required modifications to be made to enable the lifeboat to be berthed. Unfortunately, as it is afloat and on a pontoon, there will be no public access down to the lifeboat. However, it will be visible from most parts of the harbour area, even from across the other side of the river.
There are plans in place to provide a display of the names of the loved ones at the lifeboat station so that they can be viewed by the donors. The charity is asking people with loved ones names on the lifeboat to wait until this time before visiting Whitby to try to view the new lifeboat, saying :
"It will not be possible to visit the station straight away to view names on the new lifeboat as it will be at sea daily as the crew undergo vital training in order for the Shannon class to replace the Trent Class as the lifeboat on service in Whitby.
We thank you for your patience and support and will keep you updated as to when the boat will be on station full time."
At a cost of £2.5M, the Shannon is the latest class of all-weather lifeboat in the RNLI fleet. Having waterjet propulsion instead of traditional propellers makes the Shannon the RNLI’s most manoeuvrable all-weather lifeboat.
The new all-weather lifeboat will be named Lois Ivan after Mr George Ivan Stone, and his late partner Lois, who left a generous legacy to the RNLI, the majority of which has funded the new lifeboat.
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