THE National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) in Porthcawl monitors safety on sea and shore along the Heritage Coast in the Vale.
Further east, the NCIs at St Donat’s and Barry take over the task of scanning the horizons.
The Porthcawl media officer, Nick Weedon, said that July had been a record-breaking month for the volunteers.
He said: “During July we had 27 monitored and 15 logged incidents. These involved kayakers and paddleboarders in difficulty, missing children, a missing dog, swimmers caught in a rip, a fishing vessel in difficulty and a broken-down yacht.
“We logged and monitored 140 commercial vessels, 2,575 leisure, one military and 44 other types. A total of 372 hours watchkeeping were completed.
“We have recently seen a number of new cruise ships in the Bristol Channel. Two are operated by Saga Cruises, the Spirit of Discovery and her sister ship, the Spirit of Adventure. Both vessels, using Portbury Docks, were on their maiden voyages following a layup due to Covid and are currently engaged in the UK cruising market.
“Another, smaller, ship was the Hebridean Princess. This luxury vessel uses Cardiff Docks and is normally engaged in the Scottish market, but due to Covid restrictions, has made the decision to relocate to southern waters for a few months. HM The Queen has in the past chartered the vessel on a few occasions for a holiday cruise around the Scottish Islands. It’s quite unusual to see the ship in Welsh waters, but a welcome sight!”
On August 28, the stations will be celebrating National Coastwatch Day, an event that promotes not the stations but their role within the UK Search and Rescue structure.
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