National Coastwatch Institution

The National Coastwatch Institution [1] is a voluntary organisation and registered charity[2] providing a visual watch along the UK's coasts, and is not to be confused with HM Coastguard.

The National Coastwatch Institution's logo

History

The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) was founded in Cornwall in 1994 following the deaths of two local fishermen whose fishing boat sank within sight of a recently closed coastguard station at Bass Point. Most of HM Coastguard's visual watch stations were closed following a period of rationalisation and modernisation.. Although never fully admitted or responsibility accepted by the Maritime and Coastguard agency or HM Government, it is widely speculated within the local community that had the watch keepers' station not been closed due to budget cuts and still staffed then the fisherman in distress would’ve been spotted and assistance sent. Therefore, the institution, registered charity number 1159975, originated from a campaign to re-establish a visual coastal watch in Cornwall. The first NCI Coastwatch station was thus established at Bass Point, on The Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall by November 1994.

Following the successful launch of NCI Bass Point, other stations quickly followed in Devon, Cornwall, East Anglia, Somerset, Sussex, Essex, Dorset, and South Wales. As of October 2023, there are 60 NCI stations operational around the coast of England and Wales, from Fleetwood in the Northwest, through Wales, along the south coast, and up the east coast to Filey, North Yorkshire with over 2,650 trained volunteer watchkeepers.

The Institution has a joint Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), and more recently UK Border Force, and these documents are guides to NCI's role and provide the basis for the working relationship the Institution enjoys with both these departments. Most NCI stations have acquired, or are working towards acquiring "declared facility status",[3] giving NCI a very important role to play when needed among the UK's search and rescue organisations. Many have also achieved the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS).

Work
Newhaven NCI lookout and the area it keeps watch on

As of July 2023, the NCI's 2,650-plus uniformed trained volunteer watchkeepers maintain a visual watch along part of the UK coastline with 60 established NCI watch stations. These stations provide a daily visual watch in all weathers, monitoring marine radio channels, sea conditions and weather, using radar and providing a listening watch in poor visibility. All emergencies are reported to the appropriate authorities for action, the majority of NCI work being working mainly with HM Coastguard and other statutory authorities. Most NCI stations are staffed on a daily basis providing a regular daily watch from 8:00 am to dusk. In 2022 a total of 274,543-person-hours watch was performed by NCI watchkeepers, recording over 222,458 commercial, military and leisure vessel movements, and reporting a total of 826 incidents to HM Coastguard, fire, police and ambulance services, of which 336 were NCI-initiated lifeboat rescues. All this work was carried out at no cost to the public purse.

All volunteers are provided with training in visual observation techniques, marine chart-work, Ordnance Survey mapping, critical reporting, marine radio procedures, and radar, ensuring all volunteers reach the standards expected by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The NCI works with HM Coastguard, the MCA, the RNLI and the other emergency services. In 2022, some of the 826 incidents reported by NCI to the MCA ended with the call-out of the RNLI lifeboats, RAF air-sea rescue, MoD ordnance units, fire, ambulance and other rescue agencies. These incidents included vessels sinking, vessels on fire, vessels in danger and distress, swimmers, surf boarders and kite boarders in difficulties, inflatable toys with children on board being blown out to sea, persons fallen over cliffs, persons washed off jetty, land fires, dangerous munitions washed up, personal injuries, and so on.

In addition, many hundreds of minor incidents were dealt with including informing the coastguard and police of lost, found and missing children, distressed marine wildlife, ordnance on beaches, chemical drums, large carcasses and dangerous debris washed up.

2019 saw the twenty fifth anniversary of the foundation of the National Coastwatch Institution. A national office is now open in Liskeard, Cornwall.[4]

NCI contributes to SAR by maintaining a visual lookout (‘Spot, Plot, Report and Respond’) around the coastline.

All NCI stations have, or are working towards achieving, Declared Facility Status from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency. DFS outlines what MCA expect from NCI stations, this includes the training and skills watchkeepers are expected to have and what equipment lookouts are expected to have. For watchkeepers this includes but is not limited to, understanding VHF Mayday, Pan Pan & Securite and the associated procedures, communication protocols for working with SAR assets, observation techniques, plotting and chart work, understanding of emergency beacons and operation of AIS / radar terminals. For stations this includes but is not limited to high power binoculars, VHF Radios, nautical charts, AIS / radar and usually a weather station and CCTV system.

Once a station has achieved DFS it is listed as an asset within the Search and Rescue community.

Structure and uniform
Top row: Rank structure and uniform insignia of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) Bottom row: Specialist roles and uniform insignia of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI)
Chief
Officer		 National
Trustee		 Regional
Coordinator		 Regional
Staff Officer		 Station
Manager		 Deputy Station
Manager		 Station
Officer		 Certified
Watchkeeper		 Watchkeeping
Assistant		 Member / Trainee
Assessor Assessment
Team Member
(No longer
issued)		 Cadet


Coastwatch stations

The National Coastwatch Institution maintains 59 operational Coastwatch stations around the coastline of England and Wales, at the following locations:

East coast
East Runton Coastwatch lookout post

South coast

West country
Bass Point Coastwatch station
St Ives Coastwatch station

North west coast

Wales

References
  1. Telegraph Magazine. 7 April 2007. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "National Coastwatch Institution, registered charity no. 1045645". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  3. "Search and Rescue Framework for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (PDF). 5.8.5: Department for Transport. p. 54. Retrieved 13 March 2012. All watch keepers are trained to a high standard and stations will be expected to achieve Declared Facility Status (DFS) within 18 months of opening.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. "New Central Office for NCI | National Coastwatch Institution". www.nci.org.uk.
  5. Coastwatch Mablethorpe www.mablethorpe.info Retrieved 14 October 2023
  6. New mascot for Coastwatch in Mablethorpe Lincolnshire World, 25 February, 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2023
  7. "NCI Bass Point". National Coastwatch Institution. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  8. Vaughan, Sally (November 2010). "Eyes Along The Coast". Dorset Magazine. pp. 30–33. Retrieved 13 January 2011.

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