Missing Yorkshire Yachtsman Found in North Sea
A yachtsman from Yorkshire, reported missing has been found on his yacht in the North Sea, following an extensive search coordinated by Humber Coastguard. His 17ft yacht, Equinox, was approximately 80 miles east of Spurn Point (at the mouth of the Humber) and rescuers found him relatively quickly today, thanks to an emergency positioning beacon aboard his yacht which was activated. The 69-year-old’s family contacted the Coastguard on Thursday as they had become concerned for his safety. They had not heard from him since 4 July when he telephoned his son to tell him he was planning his passage home. His boat was last seen in the Kiel Canal, at Brunsbuttel, Germany.
UK Search & Rescue Contract for Bristow Group
Bristow Group awarded a new Department for Transport contract to provide civilian Search & Rescue (SAR) services for all of the UK. The SAR services contract has a phased-in transition period beginning in April 2015 and continuing to July 2017 and a contract length of approximately ten years. Under the terms of this contract, Bristow Helicopters will provide 11 Sikorsky S-92 and 11 AgustaWestland AW189 helicopters that will be located at ten bases across the UK. Each SAR base will operate either two S-92s or two AW189s. In addition to the ten bases with 20 aircraft, there will be two fully SAR-equipped training aircraft that can be deployed to any base as needed.
