The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has placed a new rescue boat into service at its Fenit station on the coast of County Kerry in Ireland.
Roy Barker VII will replace the station’s all-weather boat Robert Hywell Jones Williams, which has served Fenit for over 25 years.
Roy Barker VII was designed and built entirely in-house by the RNLI at its UK facilities. The boat has self-righting ability and was built for a cost of £2.7 million (US$3.7 million).
The new rescue boat is funded from the legacy of Mr Frederick Roy Barker. Roy left his entire estate to the RNLI, with the request that the income received from the fund be known as the Roy Barker Memorial Fund.
Income from the fund has already funded three other RNLI rescue boats at Howth in Dublin, Alderney in the Channel Islands and Wick in Scotland, as well as a rescue boat at The Mumbles in Wales and two more vessels at the New Quay and Troon RNLI stations.