Major search continues after boy goes missing in sea off Pembrokeshire beach – live updates

HM Coastguard is coordinating the maritime search, as part of a multi agency response, for the teenage boy reported missing in water off Marloes Sands more than 24-hours ago.

HM Coastguard coordinates all maritime search and rescue (SAR) operations in the UK through its network of coastguard stations, which operate 24 hours a day.

Operations teams coordinate the response to incidents. HM Coastguard receives requests for assistance in forms including 999 calls, mayday and pan pan broadcast, calls on VHF DSC and Channel 16 and satellite distress calls.

In an emergency the coastguard may send:

• a coastguard rescue helicopter
• coastguard rescue teams
• lifeboats (RNLI or independent lifeboats)

Coastguard teams can also call upon other emergency services and other vessels at sea, which may assist.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) based in Hampshire is the base for the UK national coastguard rescue coordination system, connecting 10 Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) around the UK, including in Wales.

There are more than 3,500 coastguard rescue officers (CROs) who volunteer around the UK coast and are trained in search and rescue skills.

HM Coastguard volunteers rescue people trapped on cliffs, stuck in mud or struggling in the water.

They also undertake a number of other duties such as staffing helicopter landing sites, assisting police in searching for missing people or attending reports of possible unexploded ordnance on beaches.