Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS | Series 3 Preview (5)

Coastguard returns for its third series, with exclusive access to the exceptional people behind the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The observational documentary feature follows the multiple team organisation across the stretch of the UK, from daring search and rescue helicopter incidents as far as the North Sea, to fatal criminal maritime investigations on the South Coast.

With nail-biting stories played out in the ever-tense mayday rescue coordination centres and anxious vessel inspections leading to detentions and possible prosecutions, we follow all the drama and more, as the MCA protects and responds to incidents on our shores and beyond.

In the first episode, yacht spotted near Newhaven on the south coast looks to be in trouble close to the shore during strong winds and rough tide. With breaking waves crashing over the cockpit and the skipper unreachable, the yacht is being battered by the sea and pushed ever closer to the harbour wall.

With the lifeboat unable to get close to the stricken yacht, Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 163 must do what they can to save the skipper’s life in one of the most daring and frightening rescues in recent memory. A Coastguard Fixed Wing surveillance flight is tasked to conduct and investigate potential sources of marine pollution.

Using state-of-the-art technology and sophisticated cameras onboard, they notice a large patch of possible oil or chemical pollution. The issue is upscaled to the Counter Pollution and Salvage team who must now act fast, as the potential pollution is close to land and there’s a risk it may impact the shoreline community and wildlife in the area.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Holyhead, North Wales, takes a call from the Master of a commercial Ferry in the Irish Sea. The onboard doctor states they have an 86-year-old passenger who is suffering severe bleeding, which could turn life threatening. With no time to waste, Coastguard Helicopter Rescue 936 is tasked to meet the Ferry in the middle of the ocean and attempt to winch onboard and extract the extremely ill passenger.

Coastguard: Search & Rescue SOS returns Wednesday 24th September at 9pm on 5.