At 13:31 on Friday 19 February 2021, the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre (JESCC), received a telephone call from a member of the public stating that a man had jumped from the Castle Emplacement sea wall into Havelet Bay and was struggling in the rough conditions.

Police and Coastguard officers were dispatched to the scene immediately and both the St Peter Port all weather lifeboat (ALB) and inshore lifeboat (ILB) were paged to launch.

On hearing Guernsey Coastguard’s ‘MAYDAY RELAY’ message the Polar Research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough, which at the time was south of St Martins point, offered the assistance of one of its Fast Rescue Craft (FRC) however, Police officers had already been able to recover the man from the water using a Life-Ring mounted on the harbour wall nearby.

Both lifeboats were stood down from Search & Rescue duties at 13.38 however, the inshore lifeboat was asked to retrieve a further Life-Ring that had been thrown into the water by the casualty’s friend.

The incident was closed at 14:21

Mike Harris AssocRINA, AffiIIMS.