Volunteer crew told by RNLI they must reapply for roles

Volunteers at an Isle of Man lifeboat station have been asked by the RNLI to reapply for their roles.

The RNLI says a "fresh start" is needed to get Douglas Lifeboat Station back in working order.

In a statement seen by the BBC, some current and former volunteers from the station have hit back, saying a decade of failures and mismanagement, not the crew, is why Douglas has been without a working lifeboat since November 2025.

The RNLI said: "This decision has not been taken lightly, but we believe a fresh start is needed before Douglas Lifeboat Station can return to operational readiness."

Current volunteers in Douglas have been asked to reapply for roles within a new station structure, the charity said.

The station has not been active since November 2025, despite the arrival of a new Trent-class lifeboat in August that year.

All crew must meet the RNLI's training standard before a boat can be put to sea, "enabling the team to work safely and effectively together," the RNLI said.

Since then, the charity said it had "invested significantly in training and support."

However, volunteers dispute the RNLI's training investment claim, saying opportunities to train have "significantly narrowed."

The volunteers, who say their statement speaks for most but not all of the crew, describe the past decade as a "managed decline".

Their account says:

• A promised Shannon class lifeboat was withdrawn in 2017 over a lack of berthing, a year after it was allocated

• The ageing Mersey class boat that replaced it suffered repeated mechanical failures between 2022 and 2025, leaving Douglas without cover during three of the last four TT festivals

• Corrosion left the slipway and boathouse so unsafe that they have since been removed from the RNLI's asset register and handed back to the government

• They also highlight the removal of approximately £500,000 from branch funds for historic planned maintenance costs, a transaction they say was identified only because it was questioned by the station treasurer.

• The new Trent-class lifeboat arrived four months late, then was held back again in November 2025 after crew were judged "not yet operationally ready", with no detailed explanation given

The RNLI's then chief executive visited Douglas in 2022 and the volunteers' statement says he was "blown away" by his welcome despite volunteers working out of storage containers and working from a lifeboat that was nearly 30 years old.

A £30,000 donation was reportedly made to improve crew welfare but the group of volunteers claim they saw little direct benefit from this.

The volunteers' statement rejects any suggestion of infighting. The crew "remain united," they said, and the problems faced "have largely been beyond the control of the volunteer crew".

"We have never stopped wanting to serve the people of the Isle of Man," they said.

The charity added it remained "grateful to all Douglas volunteers for their service and dedication".

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