Teesside’s shipping community has donated a thermal imaging camera to the RNLI enabling it to increase the effectiveness of its search and rescue operations, and ultimately increasing its capability to save lives. The hi-tech thermal imaging device, which was donated to Redcar RNLI, provides its lifeboat crew with state of the art ‘night vision’ to identify casualties at sea or on land. It can detect heat sources up to a kilometre away, and importantly is not affected by the bright lights of Teesside’s industry.
The camera was jointly purchased by PD Ports, THPUA and the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS). PD Ports contributed its half of the £3,000 donation through its ‘Find it-Fund it’ scheme, an initiative that supports local causes its employees are involved with. The remainder of the funds were provided by the THPUA and ICS; with THPUA members donating £1,000 and ICS donating £500.
Mike Picknett, Redcar RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: “We really can’t thank enough the organisations who’ve contributed towards the donation of the thermal imaging equipment. It gives us much more certainty that when we search for someone, we will find them. Equally as important, it will also cut down the time the volunteer RNLI crews spend searching at sea or on the River Tees, often in the dark and in poor weather conditions. This is cutting-edge technology and it’s already been put to good use searching round the cliffs at Saltburn.”