Over the weekend of 2-4 July 2010 the KNRM lifeboat from Hook of Holland, the Arie Visser class rigid-inflatable Jeanine Parqui, visited Harwich for a series of exercises with lifeboat crews from Essex and as a goodwill exchange between the RNLI and the KNRM.

The 19m Dutch lifeboat berthed at the pontoon at Harwich next to the station's 17m Severn Albert Brown, and on 3 July participated in an exercise with both Harwich lifeboats and the Walton & Frinton boat Kenneth Thelwall II.

After some man overboard exercises conducted bythe three lifeboats, the RAF's SAR helicopter from Wattisham arrived and spent an hour with the boats undertaking a series of lifts, transferring crews from one boat to another.

Jeanine Parqui returned to Hook of Holland on 4 July after a useful time exchanging SAR techniques and allowing the crews from the different countries to look over each other's rescue craft. The Harwich inshore lifeboat, the Atlantic 75 Sure and Steadfast, is a rigid inflatable, and the Dutch lifeboat fleet is composed entirely of rigid inflatables.

For exclusive photos of the lifeboats see our gallery

For more about the Harwich lifeboat see the station's website