Operation Bluefin: 50 people 'rescued from stricken boat' in major evacuation rehearsal

• ITV Channel's Kate Prout watched the evacuation unfold

50 volunteers have taken part in a fake mass evacuation exercise to help test Guernsey Harbour's emergency plans.

During the operation codenamed 'Bluefin', the Sark Venture vessel turned into a stricken cruise ship to assess how efficiently services could deal with an on-board incident.

Local emergency staff joined coastguards and lifeboats to carry out the exercise, including Guernsey Police, the Airport Fire Service and St John's Ambulance and Rescue Service.

The simulation was originally planned to take place in the Russell where cruise ships would normally moor up - but strong winds and rain forced them to relocate to the harbour so there was no chance of a real-life emergency.

When asked why an operation like this is so important, Assistant Harbour Master Mike Harris explained: "We've had over 182,000 cruise ship passengers arriving here this year and while they're all in good hands, and we've hardly had any issues, we have to be prepared for everything.

"We've organised this with the Caribbean Star in mind, which in 2006 had a fire in the staterooms on the port side. Unfortunately, one person died so we are looking at what lessons can be learnt."

Ross Coppolo, Chief Operating Officer at Guernsey Ports, added: "We've been tasked with looking at what lessons can be learnt in future exercises and ensuring the criteria are being met, and feeding back in the debrief afterwards to see what we can improve next time."

During the exercise, an air search plane circled overhead whilst many volunteers were 'evacuated' by the Flying Christine, an emergency ambulance boat.

It finished with lifeboats taking the remaining volunteers back to shore.