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Displaying items by tag: Aviation Service

The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the United Kingdom and Ireland – Trinity House, Northern Lighthouse Board and Irish Lights have announced the requirement for an aviation service to support their vital safety service for mariners.

Known as the Tri-GLA Aviation Services Project (ASP), the contract to provide a dedicated aviation service is for a ten-year period from 1 December 2027, with the option to extend for up to a further two years.

An effective aviation service is a vital element of the GLAs’ service to the mariner. For many aids to navigation, due to their location and the nature of the work to be carried out, air travel is the only means of access. Not having an aviation service, even for a short period of time, has the potential to make a serious impact upon the critical statutory services delivered by the GLAs around the UK and Ireland.

Most flights involve carrying both passengers (GLA staff, subcontractors and approved third parties) and cargo to coastal and offshore lighthouses. This may require take off and landing from vessels at sea. Tasks will also include underslung loads that represent between 15% and 32% of the operational flying tasks per year, noting that such tasks will be separate from passenger transfers. Experience is therefore essential in Helicopter External Sling Load Operations (HESLO).

The GLAs are not seeking tenders at this time but will be carrying out Market Engagement to seek supplier views to help inform the procurement process. Any response to this Market Engagement by a supplier does not constitute a formal tender to the ASP procurement process, which the GLAs intend to commence in the Autumn of 2024.

Tri-GLA ASP Market Engagement Questionnaire*
Interested parties have the opportunity to complete a Market Engagement Questionnaire – see link below. The deadline for responding is by 21 March 2024.

Tri-GLA ASP Market Engagement Event – 5 April 2024 from 1000 to 1200 GMT
The GLAs invite interested parties to a virtual market engagement event where they will present an overview of the ASP Procurement and take questions. Details to follow.

Any questions on the procurement process should go through Delta eSourcing by clicking this link.

In addition click HERE and scroll down the page for 4 downloadable documents.

Published in Lighthouses

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

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