PQBH Marina Guide 2022 v10

Dorset Police
Marine Section
Dorset Police Marine Section has a responsibility
for policing the Force’s 89 miles of coastline
out to the territorial limit of 12 miles. This
includes the busy and popular Weymouth and
Christchurch Harbours, the small fishing ports
of West Bay, Lyme Regis and Swanage, and the
world’s second largest natural harbour at Poole,
which itself has over 100 miles of coastline. The
Dorset coastline represents the Maritime and
Coastguards Agency’s (MCA) busiest area in
terms of search and rescue incidents and the
Poole lifeboat is the most tasked lifeboat in the
country.
There are millions of pounds worth of vessels
registered in or moored at the miscellany of
marinas and yacht clubs (26 in Poole alone)
and anchorage areas along the coastline.
There are also a great many tourists and other
watersport enthusiasts who bring their own
craft into the area, for example divers visiting
Dorset’s numerous shipwrecks, windsurfing
championships and a burgeoning of watercraft
users. Besides these, Poole Harbour alone
boasts:
• The headquarters of the Royal National
Lifeboat Institution
• Furzey Island (Europe’s biggest onshore
oil facility)
• Home to the world-renowned Sunseeker
International Shipyard.
Two cross-channel ferry services operate
from Dorset’s coastline across one of the
world’s busiest shipping lanes to France and the
Channel Islands. At the peak of the season there
are 1,500 traffic movements each day in and out
of Poole Harbour alone.
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