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Thames lifeboats enter service

A new RNLI lifeboat based at Tower Pier entered service this week to provide a river rescue service for the section of the Thames which forms the northern and western boundary of SE1.

The new boat is one of four being introduced on the tidal Thames in line with one of the recommendations of a review of river safety (prompted by the Marchioness disaster near Southwark Bridge in 1989), which the Government accepted at the beginning of 2001. The other boats are being based at Gravesend, Chiswick Pier and Teddington,

Tower Bridge lifted to salute the new boats at their media launch on Wednesday, which was attended by relatives of victims of the Marchioness disaster.

The service has already saved one life during the pre-launch training period when a reveller was rescued from under Westminster Bridge on New Year's Eve.

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