The Peel Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) will get its 25-year-old lifeboat replaced earlier than originally thought.

A Shannon class lifeboat is expected to arrive at the station in 2019 following a half yearly review of the RNLI’s capital plan and boat allocation.

The £2.2m lifeboat was originally due to arrive in 2021, but the review identified that the new lifeboat would be ready for delivery in just over a year’s time.

Currently the station has an all-weather Mersey class lifeboat Ruby Clery, which will be replaced by the new vessel.

Allen Corlett, Peel RNLI lifeboat operations manager, said: ’We were delighted when we received the news earlier this year that a Shannon class lifeboat was to be allocated to our station so to now have a definitive time of arrival, and much sooner that provisionally planned, is great news for all our volunteers.

’We cover a large part of the northwest Irish sea and are often called upon to operate more than 10 miles from Peel.

’A Shannon class lifeboat with a top 25 knot speed will allow our crew to reach those in difficulty in a little more than half the time currently.

’We will now work with our regional operation team in preparation for our new arrival. Our crew is already looking forward to the opportunity of training and to developing their skills.’

Last year, Peel RNLI launched the Mersey class lifeboat 12 times, bringing 16 people to safety, and has rescued a total of 444 people since it was established in 1828.

The Shannon is the latest class of all-weather lifeboat in the RNLI fleet and the first to be propelled by waterjets instead of traditional propellers, making it the most agile all-weather lifeboat in the fleet.

Its hull is designed to minimise slamming of the boat in heavy seas, with shock-absorbing seats to protect the crew from impact.

It is 13 metres in length and weighs 18 tonnes.

The Shannon was designed to replace the Mersey and Tyne class lifeboats, which are near the end of their operational lives.