River Canal Rescue (RCR), which offers boat breakdown and recovery services across the UK’s inland waterways, reports it responded to 121 major incidents in 2023. These were emergency situations either involving submerged, partially sunken or grounded craft, plus salvage work.

The figure is marginally down from the 130 incidents the company reported in 2022. Despite more river canal rescues being undertaken in the summer, RCR experienced a quiet period between January and March, historically a busier time.

Similar to previous years, the number of general callouts, such as electrical, fuel and engine issues, flat batteries, over-heating and gear box failures reached 3,335, down from 3,411 a year earlier. Around 300 of these were return visits.

RCR engineers responded to 86 per cent of callouts, of which 14 per cent were handled by approved contractors.

RCR’s Canal Contracting service organised 593 visits (up from 499 in 2022) to undertake a variety of work, including plumbing and electrical installations, gearbox replacements, inverter, solar installations, and general engine maintenance. There were 515 engine inspections booked in, 417 of which combined inspections with services.

Its subsidiary Key Diesels, whose team fits and supplies new and refurbished engines nationwide, completed 20 engine replacements/installs, sold 15 new and used engines direct to customers, worked on 18 customers’ engines, and refurbished or provided 16 gearboxes.

“Our waterways are becoming increasingly popular and while RCR is always on hand to help when and where we’re needed most, we always urge owners to give their boats a once-over before starting any journey and carry some spares – bit of preparation before you set sail can make a big difference to the success of your journey,” a spokesperson for the company says. “And with there being fewer engineers, in general, on the waterways this has increased demand for the services of our Canal Contracting team, which in turn is leading to longer lead times.”

In December 2023, the Canal & River Trust announced an increase of 6 per cent in boat licence fees from 1 April 2024 for both private boat owners and boating businesses.

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