UPDATE: |’Emergency’ flare prompting UK coastguard operation was part of gender reveal party News

The pink flare fired from a boat was mistaken for a distress signal

A gender reveal party sparked a rescue operation on Saturday after a pink flare was mistaken for a distress signal.

Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade (TVLB) raced to the party near the mouth of the River Tyne late on Saturday (April 19) after reports of a boat “going round in circles” and red smoke pouring into the air.

Fearing a crew was in danger, coastguard volunteers scrambled to Royal Quays Marina in North Shields, only to find a different scene waiting for them.

Instead of a maritime emergency, crews discovered celebrations as part of a gender reveal party – using a pink flare to reveal the couple were expecting a girl.

A spokesperson for the brigade said: “The team found that the ‘red’ flare was in fact ‘pink’, and the crew had been helping a couple reveal the gender of their baby.”

The boat’s skipper apologised for any alarm caused by the flare, while the brigade said they were simply “grateful” everyone was safe.

The spokesperson added. “We send our best wishes to the parents-to-be.”

The incident was logged as a “false alarm with good intent”, but the brigade has also warned the public that using flares in coastal areas can trigger emergency responses.

It added: “Deploying flares in a coastal environment will always raise concerns that an emergency is taking place.

“We’d recommend avoiding using flares near the coast in any other circumstances, but if you intend to, please contact Humber Coastguard in advance.”

Six team members were involved in the response that the brigade described as one of its more “unusual” callouts.

The TVLB issued further details on the callout in a statement on Facebook. It said: “HM Coastguard paged the Brigade to check on the welfare of the crew of a vessel thought to be near to Royal Quays Marina.

“The vessel had been seen near to the mouth of the Tyne and appeared to be going round in circles, with a red smoke flare also deployed. After a short while the boat then headed back upriver.

“Team members located the vessel at the marina and spoke with the crew who explained that they had been taking part in a gender reveal event and had in fact deployed a pink smoke flare. The skipper of the vessel apologised for the inconvenience the call had caused.”