June 26 2014.


Newhaven’s Severn Class relief lifeboat ‘Volunteer Spirit’ was launched by Solent Coastguards at 00:36 on the 25th of June to conduct a search for a missing person. The man from the London area was thought to have gone afloat in a partially inflated child’s dinghy from the shoreline at Seaford.

The lifeboat's inflatable Y boat was launched to assist the main lifeboat in a comprehensive search in the area from the East Pier at Newhaven through to Splash Point at the eastern end of Seaford.

White paraflares were used to illuminate the area but nothing was found.

Solent Coastguards called off the search just after 02:00 and the lifeboat was then stood down and returned to station.