Montrose’s new £1 million lifeboat station is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year.
Work began on site at the beginning of the year with the construction of a new jetty at the end of which the Tyne class lifeboat Moonbeam will be moored.
It will also allow for the rapid launch of the station’s D-Class inshore lifeboat, David Leslie Wilson, which will be moved from the station along the jetty on a wheeled trolley and launched with a crane.
Similar in design to other stations in the UK, the new base will be much like the one in Fraserburgh but with changes to layout.
Montrose Port Authority owns the land but rents the area to the RNLI on a long-term lease.
An agreement was reached allowing the lifeboat to relocate from its home, which is further up the harbour, in the middle of a busy shipping area.
The project was delayed for more than a year while the RNLI negotiated with Scottish Water for the relocation of a sewer and utilities to clear the Wharf Street site.
The station is being funded in part from legacies, including from Fife couple Hugh and Molly Brown, and other fundraising activities.
The new station will provide the best possible crew training facilities incorporating showers, toilet, an office and a garage for the inshore lifeboat.
It will also include a shop which the charity hopes will, along with its more high profile site, improve public access.
Howard Richings, the RNLI’s head of estates management, said: ”The volunteer crew and the shore helpers who assist with the launching of the lifeboat can be called out at any time of day or night, winter and summer.”
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”The shore facility building will provide them with modern changing and washing facilities as well as providing drying and storage facilities for the personal protective clothing worn by the crew.
”Training is becoming ever more important as both the lifeboats and the equipment used in search and rescue becomes increasingly more sophisticated.
”Ninety per cent of new recruits no longer come from professional maritime backgrounds.
”All lifeboat crew members must follow a continuous programme of competence based training and the new building will include a crew training room suitable for regular meetings and instruction sessions.
”This building is expected to be completed at the end of 2012 therefore allowing the Montrose crew and lifeboats to move to their new facilities.”
Montrose is also set to benefit from a new Shannon-class lifeboat, after benefactor Ruth Grant Smith, who died at the age of 99 in 2005, left the RNLI £1.5 million in her will.
Prior to her death, Mrs Grant-Smith had lived in Grantown-on-Spey, following her husband’s retirement from Brodies solicitors, where he had been a partner.
As keen supporters of the RNLI and other charities they would host an annual luncheon party on New Year’s Day, with the proceeds going towards the support of lifeboat crews.
The new vessel has been designed in-house by RNLI naval architects to ensure it meets the demands of a 21st century rescue service, while allowing the charity’s volunteer crew to carry out their work in all weather conditions.
Twin water jets are used in place of conventional propellers, allowing the craft to operate in shallow waters and be highly manoeuvrable, while giving the crew greater control in confined waters.
The system also reduces the risk of damage to the lifeboat during launch and recovery, or when intentionally beached.
Seats are designed to protect the crew members’ spines from the forces of the sea in rough weather and a SIMS (System and Information Management System) allows mechanical and electrical performance to be monitored from within the boat.
The exact date for the arrival of the Shannon at Montrose has not been determined but the new class of lifeboat has undergone full sea trials, with the first operational versions hitting the water in 2013.