All-weather Lifeboat Centre

Our All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole brings every stage of the lifeboat building process in-house and under one roof.

Launch of Cosandra 13-12; the first Shannon class lifeboat to be built at our All-weather Lifeboat Centre — Launch of *Cosandra* 13-12; the first Shannon class lifeboat built at the All-weather Lifeboat Centre

The ceremonial bell at the All-weather Lifeboat Centre is rung each time a new lifeboat is built and launched into the water

Inside the manufacturing boat hall of our All-weather Lifeboat Centre

Boatbuilders working on the hull of a Shannon class lifeboat the at All-weather Lifeboat Centre — Boatbuilder working a Shannon class lifeboat hull in the All-Weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC) in Poole.

We have pledged to provide every all-weather lifeboat crew with a 25-knot lifeboat.

This means we will require at least 50 new Shannon class lifeboats and will need to build six of these all-weather lifeboats every year, as well as maintain our existing fleet.

To make this happen, we constructed a brand new All-weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC) at our Support Centre in Poole, Dorset, which officially opened on 21 August 2015.

The facility brings every stage of the lifeboat building process in-house and under one roof, ensuring that we are fully equipped to build the next generation of all-weather lifeboats.

It gives us greater control of costs and quality, and it creates employment, including apprenticeships in marine engineering and boatbuilding.

The All-weather Lifeboat Centre will allow the RNLI to govern its own destiny. In future there will be fewer suppliers who can meet our specialist requirements. So, as well as mitigating the risk within our lifeboat building supply chain, the new facility will give us greater control over our quality and costs. By bringing all-weather lifeboat building in house and capitalising on the expertise within the organisation we will be able to save at least £3M each year once fully up and running

Manufacturing Manager at our All-weather Lifeboat Centre

Key features of our All-weather Lifeboat Centre

Two boat halls with flexible bays for manufacturing and maintaining lifeboats
Component manufacturing area
Launch, recovery and boat storage area
Paint preparation area with built in extraction system and heat curing facility
Workshop for supporting our inshore training fleet
Office facilities
Tools and equipment storage
Visitors’ viewing area

Take a tour

Ever seen a lifeboat in production? Our All-weather Lifeboat Centre Tours take you behind the scenes of our world-class lifeboat-building factory.

Tours take place from RNLI College on a Monday at 11.00am and Wednesday at 2.30pm. The tour lasts approximately 90 minutes and costs just £7.50 per person. Children 12 years and over only (visitors must wear closed toe shoes).

Book your place today by contacting our College Reception Team on 0300 300 7654 or at [email protected].