Queens visit to Belfast

Queens Visit to Belfast

On Thursday May 7th, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Belfast welcomed Her Majesty the Queen. She was accompanied on the visit by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and Secretary of State Shaun Woodward.

After being greeted by the West of Scotland and Northern Ireland Coastal Safety Manager Brett Cunningham (from Bangor) and Belfast Centre Manager Richard Newell (from Annalong) the Queen met the off-duty watchkeepers before moving in to the heart of the centre; the Operations Room.

Ian Murdock Watch Manager said: "It was a pleasure to represent the service and introduce the Queen to the watch.

Whilst in our Operations Room Her Majesty, The Duke of Edinburgh and the Secretary of State saw for themselves how we co-ordinate maritime search and rescue using the latest technology to record calls, map ship movements, plan searches and connect ship to shore for medical advice. I'm sure they enjoyed the insight as much as the watch enjoyed meeting them."