On the 16th December 2010 the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) published a consultation document to modernise HM Coastguard for the 21st Century. Essentially, this document proposes the reduction of eighteen Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC’s) down to eight. Of the eight remaining stations, only two will be operating on a 24 hour basis to coordinate search and rescue (SAR), one in England and one in Scotland.
Based on this proposal, MRCC Belfast could be at best a daylight only station, or at worst CLOSE.
We are campaigning not only to keep a Coastguard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) presence in Northern Ireland, but also to ensure that it remains a 24 hour 365 day a year station watching over and responding to emergencies on our coastal areas and inland waterways.
With this in mind, we are asking YOU, the people, clubs, businesses, councils and government of Northern Ireland for your support in helping us to put forward a case for maintaining the full time Coastguard presence currently in place today.
Please view the MCA Consultation document at www.belfastcg.com and fill in the MCA Consultation response form which must be completed by the 24th March 2011. You can also follow the links on the website and join the Facebook Causes page ‘Save NI Coastguard’. Please also show your support by writing to your MP/MLA in support of retaining a 24 hour 365 days a year service.
On the website, we have also created a ‘Supporters’ page. In this section we are publishing the logos and website details of anyone who would like to link their organisation to www.belfastcg.com. If possible, a reciprocal link back from your website would be appreciated.
JPEG and PDF images of the ‘Save NI Coastguard’ campaign poster are attached and can be used for this purpose. If you would like to link to www.belfastcg,com, please send an email to savenicg@belfastcg.com with your logo and website address and we will add you to our ‘Supporters’ page.
All that remains to say is thank you for you on going and future support for this cause and to please forward this email to as many other people as possible.
Your sincerely
The Belfast Coastguard Support Group
www.belfastcg.com
