AN RNLI decision to remove Ceredigion’s only all-weather lifeboat “defies logic”, petitioners have claimed.

The charity announced last week that Pwllheli and Barmouth RNLI stations would be getting brand-new £2.2m Shannon-class lifeboats to replace the stations’ existing all-weather Mersey-class lifeboats, which are nearing the end of their operational life.

But New Quay’s Mersey-class lifeboat will be replaced by an Atlantic 85 lifeboat, a smaller and faster lifeboat which cannot be launched in conditions exceeding force seven ‘near-gale’ winds.

A petition has been launched in a bid to stop the last all-weather lifeboat in the county being lost.

The petition, which appears to confuse the Shannon-class with the Mersey-class lifeboat already at the station, states: “There is a need for cover in Cardigan Bay for an all-weather [life]boat between Barmouth and Fishguard as its a huge area.

“The boat that will replace the Shannon cannot go to sea in more than a force seven. New Quay is ideally placed to provide response for ALB cover for central Wales.”

The changes come in a shake up of the charity’s lifeboat service in Cardigan Bay.

The RNLI has announced that New Quay’s current lifeboat will be replaced by the smaller but faster Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat.

Meanwhile, Pwllheli and Barmouth RNLI lifeboat stations will each be allocated a £2.2m 25-knot Shannon class lifeboat, the first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by waterjets instead of traditional propellers.

New Quay’s all-weather lifeboat will not leave Ceredigion until the Shannon class lifeboats are stationed at Barmouth and Pwllheli and New Quay’s new Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat arrives for service, which the RNLI said was unlikely to happen before 2020.

The RNLI said it understood the decision would be “difficult” for the crew at New Quay, but explained that it was made based on “extensive research”.

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