Ex-Arbroath lifeboat rises from the ashes to offer funeral services at sea

RNLB Inchcape left Arbroath in March after more than 30 years of service and 460 rescue missions.

By Graham Brown

October 25 2024, 11:31am

RNLB Inchcape on the slipway at Arbroath for the final time in March. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

Arbroath’s former all-weather lifeboat is to perform a new role offering families the chance to say a final farewell to their loved ones at sea.

RNLB Inchcape finally departed the Angus town in March.

It was an emotional farewell after more than 30 years of lifesaving service and 460 rescue missions.

RNLB Inchcape leaves Arbroath harbour for the last time. — Lifeboats from Montrose and Broughty Ferry flanked RNLB on her final departure from Arbroath. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

And it came after the controversial replacement of the all-weather Mersey-class boat with an Atlantic 85 inshore rigid inflatable.

Inchcape has now resurfaced as the latest addition to the fleet of a firm which provides memorial services in the English Channel.

Wesley Offshore operates four ex-RNLI lifeboats.

Those take families to scatter the ashes of loved ones on the water.

The lifeboats can carry up to ten people and the firm also offers unattended services.

They also provide anniversary and memorial trips. Services at sea can be live-streamed from on board around the globe.

The firm operates all year round from the base at the mouth of the River Dart.

It said: “Mersey-class lifeboats are versatile all-weather vessels still operated by the RNLI along the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland.

Arbroath's all-weather Mersey-class lifeboat Inchcape is due for replacement. — RNLB Inchcape was the last slip-launched Mersey-class in Scotland. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson

“Our boats have been specially adapted to comfortably accommodate up to ten guests and two crew led by an experienced coxswain.”

Inchcape has been re-named Emilia Wesley. It is currently being re-fitted for the new role.

RNLI decision split Arbroath crew

The controversial Arbroath move tore the local lifeboat crew apart after the RNLI announced the outcome of a coastal review in 2023.

Locals fought to get the charity to change its mind over the type of replacement lifeboat.

The town had been promised a state-of-the-art Shannon-class lifeboat as far back as 2014. But the £2million pride of the RNLI fleet was instead allocated to Broughty Ferry.

The row led to high profile sackings and resignations within the crew.

And many members of Arbroath Lifeboat Guild members resigned from the fundraising group.

In March, the RNLI said Inchcape’s condition would be assessed before making a decision on her future.

And the vessel which saved 12 lives and went to the aid of more than 300 people in her time made a poignant mission before leaving Arbroath.

Arbroath RNLI Robert Lindsay memorial service. — Arbroath lifeboat crew lay a wreath to remember the men of RNLB Robert Lindsay. Image: Mhairi Edwards/DC Thomson

A year ago this week, a wreath was laid at sea on the 70th anniversary of the Robert Lindsay disaster.

Six crewmen perished when the town lifeboat capsized within sight of the harbour wall on its return from a fateful mission in the Tay estuary in October 1953.