Coastguard: Every Second Counts

A yacht near Newhaven looks to be in trouble close to the shore during strong winds and rough tide. Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 163 must do what they can to save the skipper's life. A Coastguard Fixed Wing surveillance flight is tasked to investigate potential sources of marine pollution. Using state-of-the-art technology, they notice a large patch of possible oil or chemical pollution.

A witness calls the police to report a boat crashing into a buoy at high speed at Poole Harbour in Dorset. Mark Cam, lead investigator at the MCA's Regulatory Compliance Investigations Team, is asked to assist with the case, as possible manslaughter charges could be pending. Also, a Maritime Operations officer takes a call from a witness on Rhoscolyn beach in Wales about a 75-year-old man having a possible stroke.

A commercial fishing vessel runs right into a private fishing vessel off the South Coast, a collision which is caught on camera. In the early hours, the Spanish Coastguard is in touch with Stornoway Coastguard as a Spanish fishing trawler has two casualties with very serious injuries. In County Durham, a walker reports that her dog has gone over a cliff at Nose's Point.

Out in the Baltic Sea, a UK-registered vessel collides with a Danish-registered ship, capsizing it and leaving two crew members missing and feared dead. A fishing trawler sends out a distorted mayday in the North Sea, suggesting it is taking on water. In Cornwall, Penzance Coastguard Rescue Team is called to a casualty who has fallen on a coastal path.

Coastguard helicopter rescue 936 is tasked to southwest Scotland, where a bodyboarder has been dragged out to sea in extremely rough waters. MCA Principle Marine Surveyor Chris receives an anonymous complaint about a vessel operating around a North Sea wind farm. In Lincolnshire, the Cleethorpes coastguard rescue team come to the rescue of a woman stuck up to her thighs in mud.

Coastguard helicopter rescue 924 from Newquay investigates an emergency French-coded radio beacon that was activated approximately 40 miles off the coast of Land's End, in the middle of the night. In North Wales, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Holyhead receives a call from a worried son about his 83-year-old father, who has gone missing during a walk on a coastal path.

In, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the Coastguard receives a call from a shaken bystander that somebody has fallen off the cliff at Ramore Head and is visibly seriously injured. On the Kyle Rhea Strait over in the Highlands of Scotland, a large foreign vessel ran aground in the middle of the night, alerting the Coastguard as well as the MCA's Survey and Inspection team.

In the Irish Sea, a skipper alerts the Coastguard to a medical emergency - a deteriorating scuba diver who seems to be suffering from decompression sickness. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Survey and Inspection team conduct unannounced inspections of boats on the River Thames in London. Also, there's a 14-year-old who is having difficulty breathing in Snowdonia, Eryri National Park.