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Prince Charles opens UK coastguard centre

Prince Charles opens UK coastguard centre
Britain’s Prince of Wales has paid a visit to the new National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) in Fareham which, although it has dealt with 2,354 incidents since entering operation in September 2014, marked its official opening on Wednesday.

It is “another important milestone in the history of Her Majesty’s Coastguard,” according to Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) director of Maritime Operations Richard Parkes. “It signifies the step change in capability that our new National Network will deliver and recognises the tremendous amount of hard work involved in bringing this network online around the coast of the UK."
 
Honorary Commodore of Her Majesty’s Coastguard, Prince Charles met with a number of senior members of the MCA and spoke with controllers and operations officers at the NMOC, with MCA chief executive Alan Massey describing it as “a wonderful day for Her Majesty's Coastguard.”
 
“We are greatly honoured that HRH The Prince of Wales, as our Honorary Commodore, today formally opened our National Maritime Operations Centre here in Fareham,” said Massey. “This marks a huge step forward in the Coastguard's ability to coordinate effective rescues at sea and on our coasts.
 
“The NMOC is at the hub of a new, integrated network of Coastguard Operations Centres around the UK,” Massey added. “When the network is fully in place by the end of this year, both mariners and the general public will be able to count on an unprecedented quality of service from our excellent systems and highly trained staff.”
 
“We are delighted that HRH the Prince of Wales accepted our invitation to open the NMOC,” said Keith Oliver, chief coastguard. “As honorary Commodore and a former volunteer himself, he shows great interest in and understanding of the work of our 3,500 volunteers and the regular officers of HM Coastguard in safeguarding our coastline.”