UK river breakdown company expands into Australia

Inland marine breakdown and recovery service, River Canal Rescue (RCR), is launching River Coastal Rescue in Perth, Australia. The UK breakdown company will launch the new Australian enterprise in Q3 2022.

RCR managing director, Stephanie Horton, says: “Australia has a national volunteer-led organisation called Sea Rescue, whose priority is to respond to emergency and life-threatening call-outs. Boaters in trouble however instinctively contact Sea Rescue, so teams end up dealing with breakdown and non-emergency calls, diverting them away from potentially more urgent cases. 

“Having discussed our proposition with Sea Rescue in Perth, its volunteers welcome our arrival as they’ll now be able to pass all breakdown and non-emergency calls in the region to River Coastal Rescue, freeing them up to respond to emergencies.”

Perth was chosen as the first launch area due to its high boating population. Rottnest Island, Western Australia’s most popular nature reserve welcomes half a million visitors a year including 150,000 in private vessels.

The area is also supported by Rottnest Rangers and the Boating Industry Association, which RCR says are equally keen to work with them and find out more about its environmentally friendly bilge filter, BilgeAway.

“Getting everything up and running during a pandemic has not been easy and Australia’s strict lockdown rules mean we’ve been unable to physically support the launch preparation,” explains Horton. “Our Australian CEO/director, Paul Stenton, has been busy recruiting the new team and as travel restrictions ease, we’ll fly to Perth to meet our newest employees. 

“It’s still very much business as usual in the UK and the launch will not in any way impact the breakdown, recovery or maintenance support we give our UK customers. No matter where you are, our ethos remains the same ‘whenever a breakdown occurs, the RCR team is here, ready to help and get you moving again’. Our heart lies, very much, in the UK and will continue to do so in the future.”