Immersion suit mistaken for body

Monday 28 March 2022

Two lifeboats were launched over the weekend to rescue what was feared to be a body but was in fact an empty immersion suit.

Yesterday at 13:00, a member of the public contacted Guernsey Coastguard and reported what appeared to be somebody floating in the sea near La Gouffre.

Both the St Peter Port Inshore Lifeboat and the All-weather Lifeboat were launched just after 13:00 and were on the scene by 13:22.

Pictured: The suit’s condition suggested that it had been in the water for some time.

They swiftly identified an immersion suit – a type of suit that protects the user from hyperthermia.

The Coastguard believes that it most likely “washed off the deck of a commercial vessel”.

Both boats returned to their stations at 13:45.