Schoolboy, ten, praised for raising RNLI alarm over ‘inflatable drifting out to sea’ in North Berwick

A schoolboy has been praised after the raising alarm over an inflatable drifting out to sea in North Berwick.

The ten-year-old alerted emergency services after spotting what he thought to be an inflatable with one person on board drifting out to sea in Milsey Bay on Friday.

He called 999 for the Coastguard, with Watch Officers in the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Aberdeen able to gain all the information they needed to task North Berwick RNLI Lifeboat’s volunteers.

North Berwick RNLI’s volunteers launched the lifeboat and were able to find the vessel of concern.

The team discovered the vessel was a power boat with three people on board.

The boat had been sitting low in the water which is why the young boy had thought it to be an inflatable.

Volunteers determined the boat wasn’t in any difficulty and was able to get back to shore by itself.

Volunteer Lifeboat operations manager, Ricky Martin said the ten-year-old’s actions were “impressive” despite it being a false alarm.

“Many adults don’t know to call the Coastguard in a coastal emergency, so we are pleased the safety messaging is reaching young people,” he said.

“We’d like to extend an invite to the station to the first informant so that we can thank him for his swift actions.”

North Berwick’s volunteer lifeboat crew were also involved in assisting a dog back to shore on Sunday.

The crew was waved down by members of the public Freshwater Haven, Gullane, and alerted to a dog swimming out to sea.

The lifeboat shepherded the dog the 200m back to shore, where the owner re-attached the lead.

“Although understandably tempting, entering the water after a dog can be very dangerous, always call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if your dog swims off in the sea,” a RNLI spokesperson said.