Barry Dock RNLI All Weather Lifeboat
POLICE are making enquiries after lifeboats from Penarth and Barry were called out on Sunday evening.
A member of the public reported seeing a man in the water, about 500m from the lifeboat station launch ramp on Penarth Esplanade, at around 5pm.
Milford Haven Coastguard called for an immediate response, involving multiple agencies, and searches by land, sea and sky.
Boats were called out from Barry Dock and Penarth Royal National Lifeboat Institutions, alongside personnel from Penarth and Barry Coastguards, and a Coastguard Rescue Helicopter.
In the course of the evening, the Penarth lifeboats were diverted to rescue two fishermen cut off by the incoming tide, but later returned to the search.
Nobody was found in the water, and the search was suspended at 8pm.
The RNLI released a statement on Monday, stating that both lifeboats had been launched from Penarth and one from Barry Dock.
According to the official statement, the search covered an area between Sully Island and Rhymney River in an attempt to find the man.
A spokesperson for South Wales Police said that enquiries were ongoing, but that the search had been called off.
‘Police have been back to the shore, and officers are making enquiries with local businesses,’ he said.
Calls to Barry Dock – which is the only All Weather lifeboat responsible from the Severn Bridge down to Nash Point – doubled in 2015, with a total of 40 incidents leading to the boat being launched.
‘Work is on-going to identify a pattern in the rescues we make so that we can better target our preventative work in the future,’ said Abi Phillips, Lifeboat Press Officer at Barry Dock RNLI.
