The group, which formed out of the collapse of the RNLI St Helier station in 2017, secured the Sir Max Aitken III after receiving a £50,000 donation from a Jersey family. The group had earlier put down a £30,000 deposit using funds from other donations.
It is now working with Harbourmaster Bill Sadler to achieve the standards required to become a ‘fully declared asset’. The group hope to at least become ‘partially declared’, where they would be used for non-emergencies, in the coming weeks, and ‘fully declared’ well before the summer season.
The group says that when it becomes operational, it will be the first independent station to launch in the British Isles in modern times with an all-weather boat.
Coxswain Andy Hibbs, who is featured in today’s Saturday Interview, said the association had received overwhelming support from across the Island and was now waiting for the final sign-off to join Jersey’s search-and-rescue community.
‘We have achieved a hell of a lot in the last ten months. Hopefully in a month at the most we will be up and ready,’ said Mr Hibbs.
He said that 16 of the former St Helier RNLI crew had transferred to the JLA, with several other new recruits joining in recent months.
‘We have some newbies. They actually wanted to join us when we were with the RNLI but when it all started to kick off they just decided to sit back,’ said Mr Hibbs.
‘They are very good. In fact, one is a master mariner out of the merchant navy. Another is from the Royal Navy – a marine engineer who has done a lot of work on nuclear subs.
‘So we have a very high skill set throughout the crew and some excellent numbers,’ he added.
In today’s interview, Mr Hibbs defends the purchase of the Sir Max Aitken III, which is older and slower than the RNLI’s George Sullivan all-weather vessel. He said the vessel has the same top speed as many French lifeboats and that the group has spent tens of thousands of pounds on state-of-the-art technology for the boat, which is berthed on the Albert Pier.
The crew split from the RNLI following a long-running dispute which culminated in the UK charity closing the town station and taking the George Sullivan back to Poole. The boat later returned and the station was opened with a new crew.
In a statement, Ports of Jersey said: ‘Ports of Jersey is working with the JLA to achieve the standards required to become a declared asset. This is being done by considering two aspects: the capability of the boat as well as the capability of the facility. Both are measured against recognised maritime standards, which include not only the physical requirements of each but also managerial and procedural standards.
‘Tangible progress is being made, including coding of the boat, but there is some further work to be done. This includes assessment relating to operations and procedures as well as exercising with Jersey Coastguard and other SAR partners before it can become a fully declared facility.’
