Today the future of the crew remained in turmoil after questions emerged about the feasibility of them operating independently following their shock announcement on Monday.
The crew’s coxswain, Andy Hibbs, admitted ‘nobody knows’ how the future is going to pan out, nor what will happen to the £2.7 million George Sullivan all-weather lifeboat and the £6.9 million that is held in St Helier station’s bank account.
In 2009, the St Helier station bought the vessel after a major RNLI fundraising campaign – £1 million was used from the station’s reserves and £1.7 million was raised by Islanders and other organisations.
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According to a spokesman from the St Helier crew it currently costs £212,000 a year to run both the St Helier and St Catherine’s stations. The St Catherine station has no plans to split from the RNLI.
One of the biggest costs is the boat, and the spokesman said it was likely that the crew would look to buy its own vessel when it leaves the charity. The crew say it could take up to a year to buy a new vessel, although add that it could hire one sooner.
‘The plan at the moment, which is in the early stages, is that we would purchase off the shelf but to our spec,’ the spokesman said.
‘We would also need an inshore boat but we have been in contact with the French shipyard who builds the French lifeboats and they have a relief boat if we need it.’
Asked about what might happen to the current all-weather boat and the millions of pounds in the bank, Coxswain Andy Hibbs said: ‘Nobody knows. We don’t know where we stand with anything at the moment.’
Speaking on behalf of the Council of Ministers, Environment Minister Steve Luce said the government had not had any discussions about funding and what public money, if any, might be available to an independent crew.
