Ringing the bell for Kilkeel’s new Shannon

The bell ringing ceremony marks the official handover of the lifeboat from production to operations and is always a special occasion for everyone involved. Joining us at the All-weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC) were 13 of the crew from Kilkeel who had travelled over from Northern Ireland to see their new lifeboat for the first time.

RNLB Bobby Cameron is named after the principal donor, Margaret Cameron’s brother, Robert Cameron. Sadly, Margaret was unable to join us for the occasion but had written a moving tribute to her brother which was read out on the day.

Margaret has also recently funded the new D class lifeboat for Newcastle Lifeboat Station, and I had the great pleasure of meeting her at Newcastle’s 200th anniversary dinner in May. We are extremely grateful to Margaret for her generosity, and I have no doubt she is looking forward to seeing RNLB Bobby Cameron when she arrives in Kilkeel and meeting the crew who will serve on her.

Lifeboat Operations Manager, John Fisher, who attended the event with his crew, thanked the ALC team who had worked tirelessly throughout the production of the Shannon, and recorded a special thank you message for Margaret to watch back at home in Northern Ireland.

Launch events like these provide an opportunity to celebrate the commitment and achievements of our colleagues from teams right across the RNLI. Before each ceremony, people are nominated to ring the bell. People who have been recognised by the charity for going above and beyond and contributing in their own way to keeping the charity running smoothly. Last week, I was joined by Dan Sharp, Production Operations Manager, and Dom Hinwood, Technician Laminator, who were nominated by Engineering and Supply to ring the bell for Kilkeel’s Shannon.

Before RNLB Bobby Cameron can go into full service, trials and intensive training will take place. In the meantime, I would like to take the opportunity to wish the crew well for their training and thank the entire team at the ALC for their hard work and commitment throughout production.

At the end of the bell ringing ceremony, Dermot Martin, System Certification and Training Sales Director from the British Standards Institution (BSI) invited Lorraine Burke, RNLI Quality Lead, to receive the ISO 9001 certificate. The RNLI has been working towards building a robust Quality Management System for over seven years, with the aim of achieving ISO 9001 certification. The original driver came from the Irish Maritime Federation, which stated that in order to continue delivering our services in Southern Ireland, the RNLI would need to demonstrate governance over how we manufacture our boats and ensure process integrity through due diligence.

Over the past four years, the Quality Team has fully committed to seeing this through, and this achievement now formally recognises the systems we have built. Gaining ISO 9001 certification demonstrates that the RNLI meets internationally recognised quality standards and supports our commitment to continuous improvement. It also reinforces risk-based thinking — a core element of ISO 9001 — which strongly aligns with our mission, where safety, reliability, and risk mitigation are critical. 

Congratulations to everyone involved in achieving this certification and thanks to Glyn Ellis, Business Operations Manager, and Jason Kwan, Production Operations Manager who joined us from the Inshore Lifeboat Centre in Cowes for the presentation.

We now look ahead to ringing the bell on 21 October 2025 to mark the next Shannon class lifeboat to be completed by our expert engineers and production teams.

Peter Sparkes - Chief Executive