New lifeboat to improve response times

Douglas Lifeboat Station is set to receive a new £2 million vessel which will help improve emergency response times.

A "Shannon” lifeboat will be delivered in 2016 which will replace the current lifeboat which will be 25 years old.

The new vessel will be 50 per cent faster and is the first boat to operate with water jets rather than propellers.

A prototype of the vessel visited the Island at the weekend and lifeboat volunteers were able to try it out first hand.

Mike Howland from Douglas Lifeboat says the response was positive:

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