Guernsey Press

Coastguard could be taken off JESCC

THE harbour master is looking at whether the coastguard service should be returned to the Harbour Authority from the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre.

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The coastguard service could be returned to the Harbour Authority from the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre.(Picture By Peter Frankland, 18391475)

But in the meantime, a new training scheme has begun for those at JESCC who take on the coastguard role. Concerns about the way JESCC has handled the coastguard have been raised since the operation moved from the harbour after the joint control centre was established.

Home Affairs is responsible for JESCC and at a recent meeting of the Guernsey Boatowners’ Association, committee member Richard Graham told members that the committee was keen to see the coastguard service returned to Harbours’ control, but were open to be persuaded otherwise.

Captain David Barker took over the role of harbour master in August after his predecessor, Captain Chad Murray, resigned in February.

The transfer of the coastguard from the harbour to JESCC took place while Captain Murray was in post and Deputy Graham told the boat owners that Captain Murray had remained resolute that this was the way forward prior to his resignation.

A peer review of the coastguard and the island’s search and rescue operations has been carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Captain Barker said that this part of a wider initiative, paving the way for a potential audit by the International Maritime Organisation, which id due to assess the UK’s effectiveness in fulfilling its flag, coastal and port state responsibilities: ‘In doing so, the IMO may in future visit one or more of the three Crown Dependencies, of which Guernsey is one,’ said Captain Barker.

But the report has not yet been published: ‘We still await the MCA’s final report,’ he said. ‘When we receive that we will make it available..’

As for the coastguard being provided by JESCC that as a professional seafarer for the majority of his working life his focus was purely on what solution would best enable lives to be saved at sea.

‘I have undertaken to make a measured assessment of the pros and cons of the current arrangement and to recommend where the Coastguard function should properly reside,’ he said.

‘Having been in post four months, I have observed a real desire from operators at JESCC, and all involved, to deliver the best service possible.

‘To support this, and recognising that responding to coastguard incidents requires a specific skill set, we have begun an enhanced training scheme for the JESCC team.

‘I will be watching this closely over the coming months to gauge its effectiveness on our service.’

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