New £2.2m lifeboat arrives at Barmouth RNLI

The Ella Larsen in Barmouth on Sunday

Crowds welcomed a new £2.2m lifeboat which arrived in Barmouth by sea on Sunday morning.

The new RNLI Shannon lifeboat, the Ella Larsen, was escorted by lifeboats from Aberdyfi, Criccieth and Pwllheli.

It takes over from Barmouth RNLI's previous lifeboat, the Moira Barrie, which has been in service for 26 years.

The lifeboat is the first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by water jets instead of traditional propellers.

Volunteer Paul Williams said the new boat was "a lot more manoeuvrable, a lot quicker"

Reaching top speeds of 25 knots, the Shannon is nearly 50% faster than the Moira Barrie, a Mersey class lifeboat, giving crews the ability to reach those in need more quickly.

Additionally, the boat can turn in its own length or stop almost instantly, making going alongside a vessel to take off casualties a much safer option.

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RNLI volunteer Paul Williams said: "It can do a lot of stuff that the other one couldn't.

"We're very fortunate, Barmouth has a good community behind us, we do a lot of fundraising - we have numerous events here - so we've done quite a lot of fundraising for this."

The boat was welcomed by crowds on Sunday morning