Maritime Minister enjoys virtual tour of Scarborough Lifeboat Station

The visit was part of a series of events to highlight key challenges during Maritime Safety Week.

The minister spoke to employees and volunteers from Scarborough and Filey RNLI and HM Coastguard about their work, which included a recent joint beach safety campaign, as well as how Covid-19 has impacted on operations.

She also hosted question and answer sessions.

The MP has close links to the maritime industry, having worked as a marine surveyor and had her own consultancy company.

She said: "We are world leaders in maritime safety and this visit demonstrated the immeasurable value our heroes of the sea provide for skippers, sailors and visitors to the coast.

"I cannot speak highly enough of the coastguards and lifeguards in Yorkshire and across the UK who risk their lives to save lives of others."

Ryan Douglas for HM Coastguard said: ‘It was great for coastguards from our Scarborough and Filey teams to have the opportunity to meet up with the minister.

"She asked some insightful questions about some of the work that we have been doing here locally, particularly on tombstoning and we told her about the incidents that we, and the RNLI were called out on last weekend."

Lee Marton, Coxswain at RNLI Scarborough, said: "We have a very close working relationship with HM Coastguard, both as an organisation and locally here in Scarborough.

"That’s been important with the upturn in incidents since the easing of lockdown.

"We’re really proud of our lifeboats and our amazing station, so it was great to be able to give the minister a tour, even if only virtually.

"And her expert knowledge meant we had to be on our toes during the question and answer session!"

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