National Coastwatch Institution - History

History

The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) was founded in Cornwall in 1994 following the deaths of two local fishermen who drowned right below a recently closed Coastguard Station at Bass Point. Most of HM Coastguard's visual watch stations were closed following a period of rationalization and modernization. The Institution, registered Charity number 1045645, 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, the Tyne-Tees area and South Wales. As of December 2008, there are 40 NCI Coastwatch 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 Tyne and Wear, with some 1700 plus fully trained volunteer watchkeepers. The Institution is currently developing a further ten stations, and investigating a further nine potential sites.

The Institution has a joint Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), HM Revenue and Customs and more recently the Home Office UK Border Agency, and these documents are guides to NCI’s role and provide the basis for the working relationship the Institution enjoys with all these Departments. Most NCI Coastwatch Stations have acquired, or are working towards acquiring "Declared Facility Status", giving NCI a very important role to play when needed among the UK’s Search and Rescue organisations.