The state of the art vessel, the Ann & James Ritchie 2, is set to be delivered from the Dorset port at the end of February.
Prior to this, a Shannon-class training boat will be delivered by the RNLI so the crew can get to grips with it before moving to their own boat.
They are currently undergoing their pre-commissioning jet boat course (as the Shannon boats are propelled by jet engines, not propellers like the Mersey class ones).
There will then be a formal handover ceremony before the town and Peel’s old Mersey class boat, the Ruby Clery, goes to join the RNLI’s relief fleet.