Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, Dover – Friday 18 August

This special tour of the Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre will commence at 14:00 with rendezvous in the Centre’s car park at 13:45. We will be hosted by Tony Evans, Maritime Operations Specialist, and will see the Operations Room, Rescue Coordination Centre, Area Control and Channel VTS Radar Coverage plus special surveillance. All of this is, however, dependent on any emergency or crisis management at the time of visiting!

Please join us for lunch beforehand at The Coastguard, an unpretentious waterside pub at St Margaret’s Bay beneath the White Cliffs with a British menu based on local produce. Britain’s nearest pub to France, The Coastguard was listed No 4 in The Times newspaper’s Top 20 Coastal Pubs. The table is booked for 12 noon, giving us time for a leisurely lunch before the 10 minute drive back to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.

The Coastguard
The Bay
St Margarets Bay
Dover, Kent CT15 6DY

Dover Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre
HM Coastguard
Langdon Battery, Swingate
Dover, Kent CT15 5NA

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VHF Channel changes coming in September 2017

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is advising boat owners, shipping companies and anyone who puts out to sea about a change in some of the VHF channel numbers used to contact UK Coastguard.

As a result of changes to Appendix 18 (Marine VHF) of the Radio Regulations it will mean that VHF channels 23, 84 and 86 will no longer be used for either Maritime Safety Information (MSI) or Radio Medical Advice. The channels to use from September 2017 will be VHF 62, 63 and 64. The use of VHF Channel 10 for MSI and pollution control (back up) is unchanged.

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