HARTLEPOOL RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew carried out a training exercise with the crew from one of the wind turbine support vessels that ferry maintenance teams to and from the 27 Tees Bay wind farm turbines.

The hour long exercise took place in Tees Bay and involved transferring a casualty by stretcher from the support vessel to the all-weather lifeboat.

The volunteer crew were also shown around the support vessel for familiarisation purposes.

Hartlepool RNLI volunteer crew member Mark Crangle, the offshore site manager for the EDF Renewables UK Teesside Wind Farm, organised the training session.

He said: “This was an excellent opportunity to work with the support vessel and its crew to establish how we can transfer a casualty from one boat to another which proved to be a very worthwhile exercise. We also carried out a man overboard exercise and established a tow with the wind farm boat.”

The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service.