Loch Ness to pioneer hi-tech lifejackets

Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers are to get the lifesaving equipment ahead of them being issued to all 45 lifeboat stations in Scotland, and subsequently across the UK.

The lifejackets have been designed in collaboration with the RNLI and the manufacturer Crewsaver, specifically to meet the charity’s requirements.

The £2,000 cost of providing the lifejackets for the Loch Ness crew has been partly offset by a £600 donation from Aberdeenshire councillor Richard Cowling, whose family were rescued when their yacht’s engine failed last September.

The jackets are fitted with water-activated emergency lights and pockets for day and night distress flares.

Crotch straps prevent the lifejacket riding up when in the water.