The boat launched at 5:58pm on 7 March with a collaborative crew of three RNLI volunteers and a Jersey firefighter. While the crew was heading for the last known position of the suspected raft, a passing military boat was able to confirm that what the aircraft had seen was the brightly-coloured roof of a fishing boat’s wheelhouse. The crew returned to St Helier and the boat was back at the station and ready for service once more by 6.28pm.

Nigel Sweeney, RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager for Jersey, said, 'This was a call with good intent and even though no lives were at risk on this occasion, we’d always rather be safe than sorry. Although the weather has improved this week, sea temperatures around the island are still very low. I’m pleased the crew made such good time on the shout and the boat was back, ready to save lives at sea once again, in under an hour.'