Southport Lifeboat was called out to a mysterious object floating in the water off Formby Point
- Formby Bubble
- Aug 28
- 1 min read

Southport Lifeboat was called out yesterday 27th August at 12:13pm after RNLI Lifeguards reported a mysterious object floating in the water off Formby Point.
The crew launched and, with guidance from lifeguards on the shore, located the object near the River Mersey above Taylor’s Bank.
After investigation, the “mystery object” was identified as an unmanned autonomous survey vessel belonging to XOCEAN – a company that uses these high-tech boats to carry out important offshore surveys.

These vessels are fully robotic and can collect data for industries such as offshore wind farms, mapping the seabed, and environmental monitoring. They are designed to work without a crew onboard, which can sometimes lead to reports of “unknown objects” when spotted at sea.
With the situation assessed and no further action required, the lifeboat was stood down and returned safely to station.
👏 A big thank you as always to our local Lifeboat crew and RNLI Lifeguards for keeping a watchful eye on our coastline.
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