BELFAST'S dedicated lifeboat is out of service after being targeted by vandals.
Lagan Search and Rescue has said it will cost up to £500 to repair the damage after part of its steering system was removed.
Barry Carroll, one of the team leaders of the voluntary organisation, said they hope to be up and running again within the next two weeks.
But he said the vandals it would take time to raise the money for repairs as they had targeted a specific part of the boat.
"The damage that's been done, it's a specific part that's been taken, so either they know what they've been looking for, or the part they've been looking for, or it's just a genuine random act," he said.
But he said until then, the nearest lifeboat to the city is in Bangor which would add vital minutes to any rescue operations.
"Obviously you've got the travel time from Bangor to Belfast, whereas normally you'd have a 10-minute response time and the boat would be on the water," Mr Carroll said.
"So you're going to have to add the additional 10 minutes or 15 minutes transit time getting into Belfast.
"So somebody that's in the water, especially at this time of year with it being a lot colder, they're not going to survive as long in the cold water," he said.
