TALKS over whether the Jersey Lifeboat Association can return to operations are continuing – more than a year after the charity first announced its suspension.
JLA chair Ben Shenton said that his colleagues were on Friday due to meet maritime authorities for further discussions about ‘getting up and running again’.
The charity was forced to suspend its operations at the end of 2021 after its all-weather vessel, Sir Max Aitken III, hit rocks near Noirmont while the crew were en route to assist a French yacht.
The boat was sent to the UK for repairs and returned to the Island earlier this year, but the JLA is still seeking confirmation that it can resume its role.
Mr Shenton said: ‘We are working towards getting up and running again. Hopefully, we will have an update in the new year.’
He added: ‘We believe that we are ready and available as a SAR asset, but the question is whether the Coastguard will use us.’
Although the charity was not operating in an official capacity, both JLA vessels – Sir Max Aitken III and the inshore RIB Albert Pinel – took part in the search for the crew of the L’Ecume II trawler.
The fishing vessel sank after colliding with Condor’s Commodore Goodwill freight ship off Jersey’s west coast at about 5.30am on Thursday 8 December, claiming the lives of skipper Michael Michieli and Filipino crewmen Jervis Ramirez Baligat and Larry Simyunn.
JLA coxswain Andy Hibbs – a friend of Mr Michieli – was among those who took part in the search.
Mr Shenton said: ‘You have to take your hat off to all of the volunteers and rescue services who have been operating under extremely difficult circumstances.’
