29th June 2022. This morning, just as Senior Watchkeeper Paul C and Watchkeeper Mark were opening the NCI station Skegness, a member of the public called from Gibraltar Point to say they had seen a yellow buoy with a telephone box on it 1 mile offshore drifting North towards Skegness.

Nothing was visible from the station and Watchkeeper Mark reported the sighting to Humber Coastguard who asked the watchkeepers to keep a lookout and report more details if they observed it.

Fifteen minutes later, Paul C spotted the buoy travelling North on the outgoing tide and Southerly wind direction. The station CCTV was trained on the buoy, and shared with HM Coastguard so that they could see it for themselves. The sighting was reported to confirm the MOP report and the watchkeepers advised to keep eyes on. As the buoy appeared to be heading in the direction of the Wind Farm, they again called the Coastguard to inform them. The Coastguard were investigating where the buoy had broken loose from.

At just after Noon, the watchkeepers were concerned that the buoy, which was now 2 miles offshore, was drifting into the area where the dredging works and vessels were positioned, just off Ingoldmells, and they kept the Coastguard informed of its current position.

An hour later the Coastguard called to say they had traced that the buoy was from the Kings Lynn Anchorage and that they were sending a launch to recover it.

A spokesperson for NCI Skegness said “Drifting objects, like this buoy, can be a hazard to other water users and it's just one of the many hazards that we look out for every day”.