Life-savers say the decision to start dredging again at Arbroath Harbour could save them vital minutes in an emergency.
Work to immediately improve the state of the harbour was this week welcomed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The Courier reported last week that high silt levels make the town’s all-weather lifeboat unable to launch at low tide.
This potentially results in life-saving minutes being lost when a boat is called from other stations.
A special Angus Council sub-committee in Forfar approved dredging after a council report said the removal of 3,000m of silt is a ”matter of urgency”.
Paul Jennings, the RNLI’s divisional inspector for Scotland, said silt levels affect one boat and welcomed dredging, but added that rescue capabilities are intact.
”We would like to assure the public that the D class inshore lifeboat is still fully operational from Arbroath and the Mersey class all-weather lifeboat (RNLB Inchcape) is only restricted from launching at low tide,” he said.
”Arbroath lifeboat station is also supported 24/7 by all-weather lifeboats and volunteer crew from Montrose to the north and Broughty Ferry to the south.
”The RNLI would support the undertaking of dredging works at Arbroath, which would allow us to launch the larger Mersey class lifeboat at any state of tide.”
The harbour has not been dredged for more than 18 months since the council failed to find a replacement for a dredging contract which ended in December 2010.
Silt has accumulated, affecting the RNLI station’s slipway and the harbour entrance.
The Duncan Ferguson, a D-class boat with limited range and space for three crew, can be dragged over the mud to sea.
Infrastructure services convener Mairi Evans, who approved the recommendation, said she hoped the work would be started within a week.
For six years the dredging work at Arbroath and the navigation channel has been carried out by the Shearwater, a dredger owned by Moray Council, at a cost of £40,000 per year.
A sum of £150,000 was put out to tender for a three-year dredging contract after December 2010, but the lowest bid submitted was for £690,000.