After more than 20 years providing inland waterway users with marine breakdown and recovery services in the UK, River Canal Rescue is going global and launching a similar business – River Coastal Rescue - in Perth, Australia.
RCR managing director, Stephanie Horton, explains why Australia and Perth has been chosen for the Q3 launch this year: “Australia has a national volunteer-led organisation called Sea Rescue, whose priority is to respond to emergency and life-threatening call-outs. Boaters in trouble however instinctively contact Sea Rescue, so teams end up dealing with breakdown and non-emergency calls, diverting them away from potentially more urgent cases.
“Having discussed our proposition with Sea Rescue in Perth, its volunteers welcome our arrival as they’ll now be able to pass all breakdown and non-emergency calls in the region to River Coastal Rescue, freeing them up to respond to emergencies.
“We chose Perth as our first launch area because it has a high boating population sailing the coastline and accessing Rottnest Island; Western Australia’s most popular nature reserve, which welcomes half a million visitors a year, including 150,000 in private vessels. The area is also supported by Rottnest Rangers and the Boating Industry Association who are equally keen to work with us and find out more about our environmentally-friendly bilge filter, BilgeAway, which will help protect the wildlife sanctuaries frequented by boaters.”
When Stephanie and director Jay Forman visited Perth a few years ago to discuss monitoring system trials, they could see there was an opportunity to replicate their UK business. A support service was needed to relieve the pressure on Sea Rescue, plus local businesses and contractors, who because of the high volume of marine engineering and maintenance jobs, were stretched when it came to tackling minor repairs that required them leaving their base.
Boat owners were also quick to confirm they struggled to find local engineers who could help them with repairs and maintenance.
“Getting everything up and running during a pandemic has not been easy and Australia’s strict lockdown rules mean we’ve been unable to physically support the launch preparation,” explains Stephanie. “Our Australian ceo/director, Paul Stenton, has been busy recruiting the new team and as travel restrictions ease, we’ll fly to Perth to meet our newest employees.
“It’s still very much business as usual in the UK and the launch will not in any way impact the breakdown, recovery or maintenance support we give our UK customers. No matter where you are, our ethos remains the same ‘Whenever a breakdown occurs, the RCR team is here, ready to help and get you moving again’. Our heart lies, very much, in the UK and will continue to do so in the future.”