LIFELINE December 2016 - English

LIFE LINE

DECEMBER 2016

The Newsletter of the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF)

News

•

Experience

•

Ideas

•

Information

•

Development

In this issue: • C.E.O Look Back and News • The winners of the Inaugural H.E.R.O Awards are announced • Chapter 2 of the Yellow Boat Story • News from the Baltic, Canada, New Zealand and Chile • ….. and so much more!

Maritime Mass Rescue Conference – Early Birds Discount only available until 6th January 2017!

The IMRF will be running another event in its acclaimed series of maritime mass rescue operations conference in June 2017. Once again it will be hosted by our good friends at the Swedish Sea Rescue Society. Planning for this event is advancing: see inside this issue of LIFE LINE, and watch for more news in future editions and on the IMRF websites.

Registration is open so you can book your place at the conference now – and if you take advantage of our very special ‘early bird’ early registration rate you can save €200 a place!

The standard registration fee for IMRF members is €500, and for non-members it’s €800. But ‘early bird’ IMRF members can save a full 40%, paying only €300. And non-members can save 25%, paying €600. The fees include transport between the conference hotels and the venue, refreshments, lunches and an evening barbecue. The only additional costs will be your travel and accommodation – and we are negotiating special conference hotel rates too!

But hurry! To qualify for the ‘early bird’ discount you must make AND pay for your registration by Friday 6 January! And there are only 140 places available.

So: don’t delay. Visit www.imrfmro.org/registrationg4 and book your place before the 6th January 2017 to be sure of joining us in Gothenburg at this special rate!

The International Maritime Rescue Federation is a registered company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom and registered as a charity in England & Wales - Patron: Efthimios E. Mitropoulos KCMG, IMO Secretary General Emeritus - Registered office: IMRF - West Quay Road - Poole - BH15 1HZ - United Kingdom • Company Registration Number: 4852596 • Charity Registration Number: 1100883 - www.international-maritime-rescue.org

LIFE LINE

Editorial 2016 is almost over and what a year it has been! In November I was delighted to be involved with the European regional meeting which included the inaugural H.E.R.O awards. This fantastic event allowed us to celebrate bravery, innovation and dedication to maritime SAR. Our SAR community continues to become bigger and more closely connected than ever before and 2016 has been no different. This year we welcomed the following members into our SAR family: Tanzania Sea Rescue Ltd Tanzania Emergency Response Centre International Greece Dutch Boat Refugee Foundation The Netherlands Proactiva Open Arms Spain Arctic Airboats Ltd Finland Our chairman, Udo Fox, says that the only thing constant is change and I could not agree more. As the world in which we live stirs and shifts we face these changes head on and we adapt. Every year the IMRF continues to grow and develop and this is because of all of your dedication.

This edition of LIFE LINE looks back at all that we have achieved this year but first our CEO, Bruce Reid, has an announcement for 2017.

Friends and colleagues, I would like to advise that I will be leaving my role as CEO of the IMRF at the end of 2017.

At that time I will have had the privilege of doing this job for 5 years and while there is still a lot to do, the calling for home and family is too strong, so Mette and I will be heading back to New Zealand. I have advised the IMRF Trustees that, for an organisation which is still growing and developing, having a CEO based in New Zealand would not be practical or affordable. I will work with the Trustees to find a suitable replacement and will remain available to help wherever I can once the new CEO is in place.

I still have 12 months to drive the organisation forward and we have a full agenda for 2017. The focus now is to continue finding even smarter ways of supporting the work you are all doing and ensuring that the IMRF is well placed to be successful for years to come.

We will keep you advised about the recruitment process which will start in early 2017. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

Contents

DECEMBER 2016

The Inaugural IMRF H.E.R.O Awards 3 G4 International Maritime Mass Rescue Conference. 3 Subject-Matter Expert Course 2017 3 IMRF European Members Meet in Portugal 4 Mass Rescue Operations in New Zealand 6 The Annual SafeTrx User Group Meeting 7 IMRF Crew Exchange 2016 7 A Royal Visit to RCM-SAR 8 Improving SAR in the Pacific 8 Ship Fires in the Baltic 9 Mass Rescue Seminar in Chile 10 The Yellow Boat Project-One Year Later 11 2016: The Year in Review 12

Dates for the Diary NCSR 6-10 March 2017, London, United Kingdom.

Singapore Maritime Week (SMW) 2017 23-28 April 2017 Singapore.

PACSAR Meeting and Workshops 22-26 May 2017, Auckland, New Zealand.

6th Australian and New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference 22 & 23 May 2017, Jupiters Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

G4 International Maritime Mass Rescue Conference.

11-13 June 2017, SSRS HQ, Gothenburg, Sweden.

IMRF Fundraising/Funding ‘Skill-Share’ Meeting 22 & 23 June 2017, The Netherlands.

6th International SAR Conference (ISAR 2017) 10-12 July 2017, Hyatt Regency, Chennia, India.

ICAO/IMO JWG 2-8 October 2017, New Zealand.

IMRF European Regional Meeting 2017 16-17 October 2017 (Venue TBC) World Maritime Rescue Congress (WMRC) 2019 16-19 June 2019, Vancouver, Canada.

For further details of all the events listed please go to www.international-maritime-rescue.org/events If you are planning a SAR event of international interest which you would like to see listed here, please send the details to news@imrf.org.uk. page 2

LIFE LINE

International Maritime Mass Rescue Conference – June 2017 As noted on our front page, the IMRF will be running another in the acclaimed ‘Gothenburg’ series of maritime mass rescue operations conferences on 11-13 June 2017. Those who have attended earlier conferences in this series agree that they are a bit different, great fun, inclusive – and, above all, useful. Now you can book your place at the next one.

Like previous conferences in the series, this event will be hosted by IMRF Members the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, and much of it will take place at or near their fine headquarters by the shore at Långedrag, a short distance from central Gothenburg. Great rates are being negotiated at hotels in the city, and transport between the hotels and the conference venue is included in the course fee. Watch the IMRF websites for details.

The Gothenburg conferences are distinguished from most ‘conferences’ in two important ways. First, they encourage real discussion, not just listening to a series of presentations. The June 2017 event (‘G4’) will be no different. It will be based on a series of mass rescue case studies, introduced by people directly involved in the incidents themselves, and supported by expert panellists discussing the issues arising. And you will be able to contribute to the debate.

Secondly, we include a live element. This, like the detail of the main conference itself, is still being carefully planned, and details will be announced later – but we can tell you now that you will be invited to take part in a live mass rescue operation, either as an observer or as an active responder! The aim is to get us all thinking about the issues we will be discussing as the conference goes on. It’s an ‘optional extra’, though. For those whose time is really limited, the results will be reported on the first morning of the conference itself.

The exercise will begin at 1600 on Sunday 11 June. The conference runs on Monday & Tuesday 12 & 13 June. You can book your place now – and, as noted on the front page, if you take advantage of our special early registration rate you can save €200 per person!

But don’t delay. To qualify for the ‘early bird’ discount you must make AND pay for your registration by Friday 6 January. And there are only 140 places available. So, visit www.imrfmro.org/registrationg4 now...

Introducing a New Subject-Matter Expert Course, June 2017

DECEMBER 2016 These are extraordinary incidents, for which, nevertheless, we should be prepared.

This IMRF course will cover a full range of MRO subjects, including: • planning • retrieval of people in distress, accounting for them, and supporting them during their rescue • ‘places of safety’ – the end of the rescue process • filling the ‘capability gap’ • the role of the rescue coordination centre • on scene coordination • multiple aircraft coordination • maritime / shoreside response coordination • communications – priorities, systems, and structures – and public relations • MRO training and exercising, and learning from MRO experience.

The course fee for IMRF members will be €500 and for non-members €800 – but there is a €200 reduction in the fee if you attend both the mass rescue conference and the course.

Watch the IMRF websites for more details as they are developed, and we will be able to tell you much more about this exciting development in the February 2017 edition of LIFE LINE.

The IMRF Honouring Excellence in Rescue Operations (H.E.R.O) Awards 2016, in partnership with McMurdo Hero/Heroine: A person who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through impressive feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength.

The course is being designed by leading experts to enable experienced SAR personnel to consider in depth the serious challenges presented by mass rescue operations, and ways of dealing with those challenges. It will be of interest to anyone involved in maritime SAR at managerial level, but will be particularly useful to those tasked with planning and training for such events.

Maritime search and rescue is a world full of heroes and heroines, they are all around you! In coastal communities they are the baker and the bin man who jump onto a lifeboat when the pager goes off; they are the helicopter crew who battle through storms to rescue the survivors from a sinking ship; at the beach they are the lifeguards who are always ready to pull a drowning casualty from the water; they are the engineers designing equipment which will saves lives for generations to come; they are the inventors who have an idea for apps that help rescuers locate you when your yacht is in difficulties. In April this year the IMRF, in partnership with McMurdo, set out to find these heroes/heroines and honour their excellence in rescue operations.

Mass rescue operations are defined by the IMO and ICAO as “search and rescue services characterised by the need for immediate response to large numbers of persons in distress such that the capabilities normally available to the SAR authorities are inadequate”.

Stories of dedication, selflessness, innovation, courage and bravery dominated the events held in Washington D.C., USA and Lisbon, Portugal when the winners of the IMRF’s H.E.R.O. Awards were announced and we are delighted to announce the winners.

Immediately after the G4 international conference on mass rescue operations the IMRF will be running our first course on the subject, in association with Chalmers University in Gothenburg.

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

page 3

LIFE LINE The IMRF H.E.R.O. Award for outstanding service to maritime search and rescue, ‘The Vladimir Maksimov Award’, sponsored by Inmarsat: Mohammed Drissi.

Mohammed has worked selflessly as the Regional Coordinator for IMO for the Rabat SAR region linking 6 bordering countries developing their SAR management and coordination capabilities.

Over the past 12 months he expanded this work to combine the Liberian RCC Region, 5 additional countries, as well as including observers from Nigeria. The Vladimir Maksimov Award commemorates the lifetime dedication of Vladimir Maksimov who, as Director SOLAS Services, was a champion of Inmarsat’s Maritime Safety Services and at the heart of both technical innovation and regulations enhancing safety for over 25 years.

The International Maritime Rescue Federation H.E.R.O. Award for outstanding individual contribution to a maritime SAR operation in 2015-16: Captain Hervé Lepage Captain Lepage is Master of CMA CGM ROSSINI and he and his crew were nominated for the highly commendable and skilled mission to rescue the crew of the upturned catamaran Llama Lo off the South African Wild Coast on 18th October 2015.

Mr Sadi Resdedant received the H.E.R.O. Award on Captain Lepage's behalf.

T h e International Maritime Rescue Federation H.E.R.O. Award for outstanding team contribution to a maritime SAR operation 2015-16:The Proactiva Open Arms Team This was awarded for the traumatic rescue of several hundred victims of people smuggling, whose vessel broke apart in the sea of Lesbos with considerable loss of life. The team found hundreds of people in the water, some being kept afloat by large pieces of wood, that had once been part of their boat. The prize was received by Mr. Oscar Camps and Mr. Gerard Canals.

The International Maritime Rescue Federation H.E.R.O. Award for innovation and technology in maritime search and rescue: RNLI/ James Benson/ Bournemouth University.

The RNLI & Bournemouth University - Design Department have worked together with inventor James Benson to develop his original and innovative design. The “Bottle Buoy” is aimed at low resource communities, and is a minimum cost flotation device that can be used as public rescue equipment and for swimming instruction. The device is simple, allows 3 plastic bottles to be attached to a central hub producing around 60N of buoyancy. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016 Local Heroes The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre - MRCC Lisboa & MRCC Delgada. In 2015, the Portuguese SAR Service (MRCC Lisboa and Delgada) registered a total of 636 SAR events, that resulted in 501 lives saved.

The judges also made Special Commendation Awards to the NGOs acting in the Mediterranean and to the Italian Coast Guard & the MRCC in Rome for their life saving work for refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean and the Aegean.

Congratulations from the IMRF, and McMurdo, to all the H.E.R.O. Awards winners and the entire search and rescue community for your commitment to preparing for emergencies, responding to crises and, ultimately, saving lives on the world’s waters.

We are now searching for the next H.E.R.O. The IMRF is now accepting entries for the 2017 H.E.R.O. Awards.

Please go to www.imrfhero.org for more information.

IMRF European Members Meet in Portugal Representatives of IMRF member organisations from across Europe met in mid-November in the fishing village of Cascais, on the outskirts of Lisbon, for their annual regional development meeting.

The Portuguese Platform for Defence Industries (idD) and the Portuguese Lifesaving Institute (ISN) kindly hosted the event, which coincided with the inaugural IMRF Honouring Excellence in Rescue Operations (HERO) Awards.

The meeting also included opportunities for delegates to hear about a wide range of SAR related initiatives, and to take part in a demonstration of Portuguese SAR capability, courtesy of ISN. The IMRF delegates were welcomed by the Vice President of Cascais City Hall, Miguel Pinto Luz, and keynote page 4

LIFE LINE addresses were given by Dr Marcos Perestrello, Secretary of State for National Defence; Admiral Luis Macieira Fragoso, Navy Chief of Staff; and Captain Udo Helge Fox, IMRF Chairman. The speakers agreed the importance of working together to improve maritime SAR, sharing experience worldwide.

The Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Markku Mylly, explained the Agency’s role in reducing the risk of maritime accidents by helping to enforce European Union legislation, and mentioned EMSA’s environmental protection measures and ways in which the Agency can assist Rescue Coordination Centres by, for example, sharing monitoring information.

Commander Pedro Carvalho Pinto and Lieutenant Michael Barradas dos Santos gave presentations on the Portuguese SAR region and MRCCs, and on ISN. Maritime SAR in Portugal is primarily the Navy’s responsibility, with the harbourmasters acting as local coordinators. The very large Portuguese SAR region requires partial reliance on additional facilities, such as shipping which happens to be in the incident area, and the military authorities work with civilian volunteers and service providers. ISN are interested in supplying SAR aid, especially to Portuguesespeaking countries in the southern hemisphere; and MRO studies are ongoing.

To conclude the first day’s work, Eduardo Neto Filipe, President of idD, introduced a series of short presentations by industry representatives, who discussed rescue craft, surveillance and unmanned systems, software, salvage & towage, and ‘U-Safe’, a remote controlled, self-propelled lifesaving buoy.

The meeting was chaired by Jori Nordström of the Finnish Lifeboat Institution and the Regional Development Meeting itself was divided into two main parts. First, brief reviews of ongoing IMRF project work, and new work already proposed, together with several short ‘member focus’ sessions; and, second, a development workshop.

David Jardine-Smith of the secretariat gave a brief update on the IMRF’s mass rescue operations (MRO) project; Anna Classon of the RNLI introduced the Future Technology Panel; Linde Jelsma of KNRM spoke about the IMRF’s Crew Exchange project – now five years old: 310 people from 17 countries have been involved so far, not counting all the host team members who have also benefited – and Andreas Arvidsson of SSRS reported on the IMRF-coordinated assistance to the Hellenic Rescue Team and the Hellenic Coast Guard during the ‘mixed migrant’ crisis in the Aegean. HRT’s President, Giorgios Kalogeropoulos, offered heartfelt thanks to the five IMRF www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016 members who had participated directly – RS, KNRM, RNLI, SSRS & DGzRS – and to the IMRF for the coordination of the response.

Jolan van den Broek of KNRM explained a proposal for an IMRF fundraising panel. Communication processes and fundraising methods are changing fast, she said: we need the right people, the right culture, passion and pride, and database-driven fundraising, acknowledging that we can expect returns only after investment. Jolan is a big fan of ‘copy, paste and innovate’; that is, borrow other people’s good ideas as well as developing your own. To that end KNRM will be organising a fundraising skill-share event in the Netherlands, 22-23 June 2017. Watch www. international-maritime-rescue.org for details.

Anna Classon and Andreas Arvidsson began the workshop part of the meeting by introducing a proposal for a work plan for future regional work. They suggested that subjects raised at regional meetings and agreed for action should be allocated to specific working groups or specialist panels. Work done between regional meetings would be reported back, and would help set the next meeting’s agenda. Results would be placed online on the IMRF websites and/or stored securely for members’ future use as one of the main aims is to avoid costly duplication of effort. Members working together should be able to learn from each other’s experience and achieve synergies and cost efficiencies. Added value would be an essential requirement of this work. The meeting welcomed this proposal.

Delegates then divided into working groups to discuss funding and fundraising, now the subject of a panel to be led by Jolan van den Broek; volunteer recruitment and motivation (subjects which might also benefit from panel work); organisational development and sustainability; and how the IMRF should be involved in ‘lobbying’ activity – it was agreed that, while this is appropriate at the international and sometimes the regional level, the IMRF does not become involved in national discussion.

Jori closed the meeting with thanks to the organisers and all attendees. The two days had been very productive and some delegates were able to stay on and enjoy an outing in two of ISN’s lifeboats. It was agreed that, as the regional development process is evolving quickly, annual meetings should continue to be held, supported by the intersessional work of the various specialist panels and working groups which regional members establish.

Many thanks to all the organisers of this event and especially to our hosts the Portuguese Platform for Defence Industries (idD) and the Portuguese Lifesaving Institute (ISN). page 5

LIFE LINE

DECEMBER 2016

“Keep Moving Forward”: Preparing for a Mass Rescue Operation in New Zealand “If you can’t fly then run,” said Martin Luther King: “If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

King’s words are appropriate to our work in SAR, says Geoff Lunt of IMRF Members Maritime New Ze a l a n d ’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC NZ); especially in regards to Geoff Lunt in the JRCC NZ Operations Room, and the vast New Zealand SAR Region. mass rescue operations (MROs). No matter what your limitations are, you must do as much as you can to improve and prepare.

Here Geoff shares New Zealand’s work over the last four years in improving MRO response.

JRCC NZ has a very large Search and Rescue Region (SRR), with 30 million square kilometres to look after and a diversity of areas from sub-tropical to temperate and polar climates. The SRR has large areas of ocean, remote from landmass, which presents challenges for rescuers to access those in distress.

Over the last few years, we have seen an increase in tourism in our SRR, especially in the number of cruise ships visiting not just New Zealand but Antarctica and the Pacific Islands. The challenges that this provides to the New Zealand SAR authorities in the event of MRO are colossal. Even a minor incident that may require evacuation could easily overwhelm a small Pacific nation.

In order for an MRO to be carried out effectively it is vital that all agencies involved are aware of the role they, and others, are expected to play during the operation.

To ensure that MROs within New Zealand’s SRR are well coordinated, the New Zealand Search and Rescue Secretariat (NZSAR) have prepared a strategic MRO policy document. This notes that, while overall ownership of an MRO will sit within Government at the highest levels, the responsibility for developing and maintaining MRO readiness plans lies with the two SAR coordinating authorities, JRCC NZ and NZ Police.

The vast New Zealand SAR Region.

NZSAR, JRCC NZ and NZ Police have worked together to develop a National MRO plan to be used for all MRO events where the survivors are likely to be landed on New Zealand’s shores, including any transfer of survivors from vessels of opportunity. Once the National MRO plan has been activated for incidents near to New Zealand, it is likely that the NZ Police will assume overall responsibility and become the Response Coordinator. The coordinating authority for the SAR component of the MRO would be discussed, but most likely will be managed by JRCC NZ. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

For MRO incidents away from New Zealand itself, in Antarctica or around the Pacific Islands, the same plan is to be used, but consideration will need to be given to the role of the overall Response Coordinator.

For example, in an incident close to the Cook Islands the role of the Response Coordinator may be better suited to the Cook Islands Police with NZ Police support.

The plan has several key functions: •To set out the national command, control, coordination and communication structures for a close-to-shore marine MRO. This includes identifying the lead agencies for various stages of the response and detailing the specific functions and contact details for each of these lead agencies.

•To set out the regionally specific command, control, coordination and communication structures for an MRO. This includes identifying which agencies will take up what specific roles and functions as detailed in the plan.

•To provide information on the regional resources that might be utilised during an MRO along with regionally specific information like possible landing sites.

A series of phased tabletop exercises have been planned, using the ‘crawl, walk and run’ methodology, which suits our aims in achieving a robust plan and response to incidents of this type:

Crawl – Educate

Walk – Test

Run – Full scale live exercise

The first phase of exercises, “Rauora I”, commenced in 2014 and was completed by March 2016.

The aim was to test the command and control structure of each of the twelve Police Districts – 9 in the North Island and 3 in Exercise Rauora II: Emergency Operations Centre the South – and at Rotorua their respective Regional SAR Plans for a MRO. The next phase, “Rauora II”, has commenced, with the first two exercises being completed in October.

The exercise aims are to test arrangements for responding to mass rescue incidents in each of the Police districts, using their respective Regional MRO SAR Plan; to test JRCC NZ’s response, including the internal logistical planning required for additional personnel, equipment etc., whilst still maintaining business as usual; and to assess the JRCC NZ systems and processes in handling large volumes of information and communications.

Moving forward, the long-term aim will be to implement the ‘Run’ phase and conduct a live MRO exercise sometime in 2019, involving multiple agencies and volunteers.

A program will also be developed for continuity training and refresher exercises, updating MRO plans including appendices for Pacific Island and Antarctic responses. page 6

LIFE LINE

Community Collaboration at the Annual SafeTrx User Group Meeting The goal of the software consulting company behind the development of SafeTrx is to make it the default technology for keeping the ordinary seafarer and leisure sports persons safe at sea. With that goal in mind, the product must continue to adapt to new challenges and opportunities and the SafeTrx team recognises that the best informed people to guide the adaptation are those organisations that have been successfully deploying and utilising SafeTrx and actually saving lives.

The second 2016 SafeTrx User Group (SUG) meeting took place on Wednesday October 26th 2016 in Schiphol outside Amsterdam. It proved to be a very productive and engaging event. The SUG’s meeting aims are chiefly to promote cooperation and information exchange between existing and future SafeTrx users, which include Sea Rescue and Coast Guard organisations and other interested parties from around the world. Such cooperation will lead to more successful and efficient implementation of SafeTrx and associated services for the present user community and for future adopters.

Representatives from the following organisations were present: • Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij) • Netherlands Coast Guard (Nederlandse Kustwacht) • Royal National Lifeboat Institution • Royal Yachting Association • German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger) • Sjöräddnings Sällskapet (Swedish Sea Rescue Society) • Redningsselskapet (Norwegian Sea Rescue Society) • Suomen Meripelastusseura (Finnish Lifeboat Institute) • Danish Maritime Authority, Danish Navy and TrygFonden The meeting was chaired by Nessa Malone, SafeTrx product manager. Nessa was joined by her colleague John Murphy. Nessa facilitated a series of presentations and follow up discussion by attendees.

First to speak was Henk Kok, Senior International Advisor Search & Rescue with the KNRM. He shared their experiences on the usage of the 2016 SafeTrx app with meeting attendees. He recounted details from some operational rescues aided by SafeTrx over the past 12 months and led a worthwhile discussion on the opportunities associated with implementing SafeTrx. Wiljan Meijvogel, KNRM’s Policy and Innovation Advisor, described the operational policies and standards the KNRM have put in place as part of their SafeTrx implementation. This very useful and informative session gave an opportunity for the group to exchange experiences, lessons learnt and best practices. These experience derived templates will be very beneficial for future users in any operational theatre.

The group then addressed the challenging concept of ‘international cooperation’ and how it might be aligned to the SafeTrx strategy. This is a complex, multi faceted area for the community to explore with many challenges from a territorial, jurisdictional, legal, political and economic standpoint. However, it will undoubtedly give rise to enormous safety, efficiency and economy of resources benefits should these all be resolved satisfactorily.

Several themes arose from this discussion and all attendees agreed these topics would remain on the community’s agenda for ongoing discussion and exploration. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016 SafeTrx users and future user community collaboration in the areas of product direction and feature sets, shared safety materials, third party data sources and operations were also considered and multiple ideas were exchanged.

John and Nessa outlined the proposed features for the 2017 version of the product and generated plenty of discussion around these within the group. Attendees raised a broad array of proposed enhancements, and requested discussion on possible features and options in the areas of safety, user experience, operations, social engagement, promotion and content.

The session gave the SUG members a sense of shared ownership in the future of the SafeTrx platform as they deliberated which salient features will form the evolutionary aspects of the next version to make it into the 2017 product.

The SUG meeting provided an opportunity for future technology ideas and operational concepts to be discussed. Sharing such initiatives improves cooperation between SUG members in the areas of innovation and emerging technologies for lifesaving. It will also ultimately lead to a better SafeTrx product, which will continue to save lives at sea.

IMRF Crew Exchange 2016

Photo Credit: Sebastian Ollandt of Finland

This year saw the 5th IMRF Crew Exchange and not only did the crew involved learn all about SAR in a different country they were also involved in helicopter crash training, survival techniques and rescuing crew mates from capsized boats. “(What a) great feeling that "SAR" is a common language!!! After 1 hour at sea, 8 people from different countries on an unfamiliar lifeboat (and in an unknown area) can perform a search pattern and related rescue actions together successfully!”

Sylvain MOYNAULT (Crew member from SNSM France who attended the exchange in Iceland)

Set up by the IMRF and organised by Linde Jelsma, of the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM) this year's crew exchange brought together 65 lifeboat crew members from across Europe to share their experiences and learn new techniques – and support for the event was universal.

Participants were incredibly enthusiastic: Orn Smarason from Iceland said: "I feel blessed having had an Photo Credit: David Scott opportunity to visit SNSM in France, they gave us the perfect week of exercises." page 7

LIFE LINE

The host organisations this year were from 9 IMRF member organisations and crew members also attended from Portugal, Estonia, Curacao and Latvia.

“Each year a Full details of the host organisations can new group of be found at www.imrfexchange.org lifeboat crew members are able to interact and gain practical experience in waters and situations that are often unfamiliar. They come away after an intensive week with a wider knowledge and ideas and solutions that can be applied back home." says Bruce Reid, IMRF CEO. "The implications of this exchange reach much further than just to those that attend. Each crew member takes skills back to their own station and the SAR community then becomes an even closer family with every year that passes."

The respect and appreciation for this initiative is reflected in the nomination of Linde Jelsma for a H.E.R.O award, Linde’s commitment and enthusiasm turned this idea into a reality and the value created by the IMRF Crew Exchange for the European sea rescue community continues to grow with each passing year giving those involved friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

The next Lifeboat Crew Exchange will be from 23rd to 30th September 2017! If you are interested in the Crew Exchange Project, and would like to know more about it and how you could be involved, please visit http://www. imrfexchange.org/.

RCM-SAR: A Royal Visit Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR) volunteers had the opportunity to meet the Duchess of Cambridge and present her with child-size lifejackets for Prince George and Princess Charlotte during a recent Royal Visit to British Columbia.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, accompanied by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and RCM-SAR CEO Pat Quealey, receives personalized RCM-SAR life jackets for Prince George and Princess Charlotte from RCM-SAR crew member Louise Hooymans.

The presentation followed a roundtable discussion with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and first responders focusing on mental health issues facing emergency personnel. RCM-SAR Chief Executive Officer Pat Quealey spoke of the importance of providing our first responders with a comprehensive system to help deal with both the cumulative effects of exposure to emergencies and the www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016 enduring aftermath of tragic incidents.

He highlighted that – particularly in a volunteer-based organization - community-based support is also key to healing when more formal resources are less prominent.

The roundtable also included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Madame Sophie Trudeau-Gregoire, local elected leaders, members of the Canadian Coast Guard, police and fire departments, and ground search and rescue.

The event took place in Customized RCM-SAR lifejackets Vancouver, the site of the for Prince George and Princess 2019 IMRF World Maritime Charlotte.

Rescue Congress.

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue is hosting the quadrennial event and planning is well underway.

Chief Executive Officer Bruce Reid visited Vancouver in September to meet with planners and visit RCM-SAR stations. The 2019 event is expected to attract hundreds of participants and be a showcase for the achievements of the international maritime rescue community.

Improving SAR in the Pacific Geoff Lunt of IMRF Members Maritime New Zealand’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC NZ) writes: There are some 13 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) in or adjoining New Zealand’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR), each with its own method of conducting search and rescue and some with very little SAR capability at all. In recent years, there have been calls for the introduction of a single Pacific Islands Search and Rescue Plan.

At the Sixth Pacific Regional SAR Workshop held in Noumea, New Caledonia, in April 2015, Pacific Island delegates committed to promote cooperation in SAR matters among the 26 members of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Also, in support of enhanced efforts to save lives at sea, the delegates undertook to develop national SAR plans and, w h e r e required, to develop or update national SAR legislation.

The primary purpose of the Pacific Islands Search and Rescue Plan is to assist the Pacific Island States and JRCC NZ to meet their own SAR needs and the obligations some have accepted under the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). page 8

LIFE LINE There are significant challenges for the PICTs in regard to conducting SAR operations. Huge areas and great distances must be covered with limited SAR resources.

Of the 7500 islands in the Pacific region, only about 500 are inhabited. Because of the vast distances, poor communications and isolation, the task of saving lives at sea is a daunting task.

The PICTs within the NZ SRR include American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and Tokelau. JRCC NZ also assists Kiribati and Tuvalu, in the Fiji SRR. Over the last few years JRCC NZ has been frequently called upon to provide SAR advice and resources in Kiribati, and NZ’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (responsible for the New Zealand Aid Programme which supports sustainable development in developing countries) have asked that JRCC NZ include Kiribati and Tuvalu in the Pacific SAR Plan.

On 1 July 2016, at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the Pacific Islands SAR Steering Committee, New Zealand began its two-year term as committee chair. Representing JRCC NZ, Deputy Manager Training Kevin Banaghan acknowledged the leadership and work of the Australian contingent in getting the group to where it is today and pointed out that much remains to be done, including the implementation of a five year strategic plan (2016-2021).

A key outcome of the meeting was the development of a framework for the strategic plan, which outlined four priorities: SAR Governance, SAR Coordination, SAR Response and SAR Prevention. It was also announced that New Zealand will host the seventh Pacific Regional SAR workshop in Auckland in 2017.

The workshop will bring together PICT members to further develop regional SAR response and co-ordination strategies. It is also an opportunity for Pacific Island SAR Coordinators and legislators to develop working relationships with their neighbours and to promote bonds of friendship and cooperation. The workshop focus in recent years has been on mass rescue operations, as there are significant risks of this type of incident occurring, exemplified by the Princess Ashika tragedy in Tonga in 2009, when 74 lives were lost. This focus was driven by concern from coordinating authorities that make up the Pacific SAR Steering Committee that plans were not in place to enable an effective response to a similar large scale incident in the future.

Although potentially disastrous, large scale incidents are infrequent.

On the other hand, there are a lot of cases involving small open fishing boats, and other small craft used for transporting people and goods from island to island.

These boats do not always carry even basic emergency equipment. This has been an on-going challenge in terms of the enormous costs involved in a SAR operation should one be required.

Adrift for 16 days: a Kiribati fishing boat located by a RNZAF P3 Orion aircraft.

The focus on MRO is progressively being complemented by a broader focus on ensuring the appropriate arrangements are in place and SAR capability which responds better to the immediate needs of many of the small island nations and the volume of SAR work is developed and maintained.

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016

In accordance with the project brief, JRCC NZ intends to further develop the strong relationships which have been forged over the years by delivering specific training needs to the key coordinators. JRCC NZ has committed Kiribati SAR Class 2016, to a long term with NZ SAR officers John Ashby & Geoff program with the Lunt. support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, providing expert staff, as required, to conduct an in-country ‘needs analysis’ to identify training that will enhance SAR response and boating safety.

The results dictate the scope and level of training to be undertaken.

The needs analyses will be followed by specific SAR coordination training throughout the NZSRR and beyond.

To date, training has been delivered to Kiribati and scoping visits made to Niue, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, with training to be carried out during 2017.

Ship Fires in the Baltic In late October the Finnish Border Guard hosted ‘MIRG Seminar 2016’ in Turku, aboard the retired cruise ship S/S Bore, and on the Viking Line ferry M/S Amorella on passage from Turku to Stockholm and back again. The IMRF’s mass rescue operations (MRO) project manager David Jardine-Smith attended, and gave a presentation on the project, setting the MIRG concept in the wider picture of MRO response.

‘MIRG’ stands for Maritime Incident Response Group. The idea is that teams of emergency responders – usually, although not exclusively, firefighters – can be taken out to ships in distress at sea to assist the ship’s master and crew in dealing with the emergency. This is a SAR, not a salvage, response. The MIRG team boards the ship to help save lives rather than salvaging the ship itself. But, that said, if the situation can be stabilised so that an evacuation of the ship can be averted and people can remain aboard in relative safety while the ship is brought into port, so much the better.

Even if an evacuation at sea becomes unavoidable, the deployment of a MIRG team can be of great help to the ship’s staff, as they can assist in controlling the situation so that the evacuation can take place in an orderly manner.

Appropriate MIRG experts can support fire control measures, provide paramedic assistance, and/or advise on specialist matters such as hazardous cargo accidents.

(See the February 2016 edition of LIFE LINE, available in the archive at www.international-maritime-rescue.org, for more on all this.)

This is all very much in line with the IMRF’s recommended ways of filling the SAR ‘capability gap’ in mass rescue incidents. Deployment of assistance offshore can help buy time, and thus save more lives. And sharing resources regionally is also highly recommended. MROs are (usually) rare events, and individual governments cannot justify the expense of maintaining sufficient resources at permanent readiness in order to cope when they do occur.

Thorough planning of joint response arrangements, however, enables the sharing of available resources in a major emergency, to the benefit of all involved. page 9

LIFE LINE

The Finnish Border Guard lead the ‘Baltic Sea MIRG Project’, which has been developing MIRG capability in the Baltic Sea area, with particular emphasis on sharing resources between States in the region. Full information about the project and its reports may be found at www.raja.fi/MIRG. The October seminar brought together ship fire experts, industry representatives and other maritime emergency responders to discuss recent developments in operational preparedness to deal with ship fires, and how the project should be developed further. A key aspect of the seminar was the presentation of project results to date, which include joint operational guidelines developed for use in MIRG operations by authorities participating in ship fire incidents and by shipping companies.

The seminar was preceded by a live MIRG exercise aboard an ageing cruise ship, S/S Bore, which now serves as a hostel in Turku harbour. MIRG teams were deployed to the vessel, some by helicopter, and worked through the processes of liaising with the ship’s master and chief engineer and tackling a severe fire on the ship’s lower decks. A Fire Liaison Officer attended the coordinating rescue centre, MRCC Turku, to handle communications with the fire incident commander aboard the ship and keep the SAR Mission Coordinator fully advised of progress, so that SAR plans and support could be prepared and updated.

A primary aim of the exercise was to test arrangements for deploying and tasking MIRG teams from several different countries to the same incident.

DECEMBER 2016 terms – so that the cruise ship’s master decided to order his ship abandoned. For exercise purpose there was no room for the MIRG teams in the ship’s survival craft, which gave them the opportunity to practice their own escape system, abseiling from the stricken vessel’s bow.

It was a useful and successful exercise – especially as a number of learning points were identified as a result – and the many observers were well-satisfied.

The seminar aboard Amorella the next day was equally successful, with presentations on the operational g u i d e l i n e s developed by the Baltic Sea MIRG Project and tested aboard Bore; RORO fires in Europe, especially the very challenging Norman Atlantic case in the Adriatic in 2014; lessons learned in another MIRG exercise involving teams from the English Channel area; ferry company expectations of the MIRG process; and the development of an offshore firefighting capability in Italy; as well as David’s talk on the IMRF’s MRO Project.

Attendees also discussed the further development of the MIRG concept. Its usefulness is proven, although, like many MRO-related responses, it does require dedication at all levels to establish and maintain it. Sharing resources to this end helps greatly, and the guidelines developed by the Baltic Sea MIRG Project are especially helpful in this respect.

A MIRG team arrives aboard Bore, and fire officers confer with the ship’s master and chief engineer.

In this case two Finnish MIRG teams, from Turku and Helsinki, were supported by teams from Norway and the Netherlands – and MRCC Turku liaised with their counterparts at Bodo and IJmuiden accordingly, testing lines of communication and mutual understanding. Of course, it is highly unlikely that teams from these three particular States would find themselves working together in reality – but all may very well be part of multinational responses, and this test of ‘working with strangers’ (who all understand the basic MIRG procedures) was very beneficial.

The ‘Vessel Triage’ system, also developed by the Finnish Border Guard, was tested as part of the exercise. This system uses a simple risk assessment process to assess the hazards and determine the current state of the ship, expressing its condition using a simple colour code that can be readily understood by all the various responders involved. This facilitates mutual decision-making as to the safest course of action – for example, whether to deploy MIRG teams and/or whether to commence evacuation of the ship.

More information on the system may be found at www. raja.fi/vesseltriage. We recommend that you try it!

(Note: Vessel triage apps can be downloaded from the Apple Store.)

The scenario in the Turku exercise called for the situation to worsen – going from ‘yellow’ to ‘red’ in Vessel Triage www.international-maritime-rescue.org

The IMRF fully supports MIRG development, and you can find more information on MIRG operations at www. imrfmirg.org. Take a look and see how we can improve our preparedness for fires and other complex incidents at sea.

Mass Rescue Seminar in Chile IMRF Trustee and Regional Coordinator for South America,

Jorge Diena, writes:

In April 2015, during the 90th anniversary celebrations of a Chilean IMRF member organization based in Valparaiso, the need for a mass rescue operations (MRO) seminar in Chile was discussed, due to the number of passenger ships transiting the region and visiting the port.

After some initial planning and evaluation the date was set for October 2016. To make it happen many meetings were held with the Chilean Navy, the national emergency response agencies, health organizations and the Governor of the region, and all agreed the importance of such a seminar.

The event was hosted and co-organized by IMRF’s page 10

LIFE LINE member organization, the Cuerpo de Voluntarios de los Botes Salvavidas de Valparaíso. The Chilean Navy made available its Maritime Instruction Center, CIMAR, which was perfect for the occasion. As well as the Valparaiso maritime rescue volunteers, the participants came from the Chilean Navy (Armada de Chile), the national emergency response agency (ONEMI), the national health service (SAMU), the Red Cross (Cruz Roja de Chile), the Firefighter Corps of Valparaiso (Cuerpo de Bomberos de Valparaíso), and the National Lifeboat Organization (Junta Nacional de Botes Salvavidas). The cruise line shipping agency, Inchcape, the Chilean Police (Carabineros de Chile), the Police Investigation Department (Policia de Investigaciones), and the Container Terminal in Valparaiso (TCVAL) were also represented.

Thomas Gorgol and Joel Morgado, MRO experts from the US Coast Guard, were the key presenters.

Joel had had the “good fortune” to have played a leading role in a real MRO in his country last August, and had all the expertise that comes from dealing with such a complex event. As the IMRF’s Regional Coordinator, I introduced the seminar and explained how the IMRF can help share the knowledge brought together by our members and offered in the MRO library on our website, www.imrfmro.org. I was also able to tell the seminar participants what the IMRF is doing in different parts of the world to help prevent the loss of lives.

The Governor and high ranking officers from different law enforcement agencies were present for the opening ceremony and the first presentations, and were impressed by the intricacy of a MRO. All the participating organizations made presentations highlighting their particular roles in the Chilean community and what they thought would be their role if a MRO should be required.

After that, Joel Morgado led a tabletop exercise which made the complexity of a MRO so clear that many participants realized that many of their original plans had to be revisited. Joel’s energy and knowledge were excellent, and the success of the event was crystal clear when we closed the seminar by asking the participants to make their own evaluation of what they had discussed.

Their comments included: • “I thought we had a plan, and now I realize we need a new one…”

• “We need to work together with other agencies…”

• “From now on I will change my attitude…”

• “We need to make a plan that includes and works for all organizations…”

This summarises very well the need for MRO planning – and the value of seminars such as this one in Valparaiso.

On behalf of the IMRF, my thanks to all involved. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016

The Yellow Boat Project Chapter 2 - One Year Later

In the October edition of LIFE LINE we published Chapter 1 of the story behind the Swedish Sea Rescue Society's Yellow Boat project and here we continue the story.

A handshake, a nod, and a laugh and the yellow boats were away.

These were the final moments in the Admiral's office in Piraeus and they are, of course, a simplified version of events. Behind the scenes there was a mountain of paperwork and local intricacies. In Greek tradition when you are given a gift it is etiquette to respond with a gift of equal value. The Yellow Boat project was offering this ‘gift’ of assistance and it caused confusion. What did the crew want in return? Why were they aiding a country so far away from their home? The truth was that the Yellow Boats and their crew needed nothing in return, they just wanted to help and soon the barriers of doubt fell away and it wasn’t long before the Greeks’ open heartedness and gratefulness for the assistance shone through: “Captains, you are free to sail and free to engage...”

The Yellow Boats had been given permission to sail, and permission to save! The first few days were quiet…then the coastguard called and the crew were on their way to the first mission and by the end of the day 46 lives had been saved.

For 2-3 weeks the Yellow Boats worked non-stop alongside the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT) but this was a new type of search and rescue and it required a different type of sensitivity. It was decided that the crews would undertake two weeks at a time so that each crewmember would have time to deal with the traumatic missions, and so fresh crews needed to be found.

A recruitment process was established and in the first two hours of recruitment over 300 crew had volunteered.

All the volunteers that came out to help in Samos had SAR experience at their own stations but what they had to face with the Yellow Boat project was different. This was a mission that did not have the finality of a normal tasking: each day was another phase in an unceasing ‘shout’. It was not enough to be physically fit and able, all volunteers and all the journalists accompanying them needed to be mentally strong to handle what they would face. Some days brought joy, many brought sadness but every life, saved, or lost, impacted on all involved and they made sure that it was documented and that the stories continued to be told.

The Yellow Boat project had a huge impact on the mixed migrant crisis and at the European Regional Meeting in Cascais Hellenic Rescue Team’s President, Giorgios Kalogeropoulos, offered heartfelt thanks to SSRS, and to all the IMRF members who had participated directly in Greece, including Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (RS), Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) & the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS).

In 2015 the conversation between Schibsted and SSRS was “Never mind the problems and the difficulties…can’t we save lives together?”

The answer was yes and by the time the Yellow Boats left Samos in 2016 they had saved 1892 lives. page 11

LIFE LINE

The CEO’s Review of the Year

Bruce Reid, IMRF’s Chief Executive Officer, writes: Where did 2016 go?! As the year draws to an end our editor has asked me to try to summarise the IMRF’s achievements over the year, and maybe say a few words about where we’re going next. ‘You have one page,’ says Rebecca. Well: that’s really nowhere near enough to tell you everything that’s going on – but I will give it my best shot...

During 2016 the IMRF has achieved a huge amount in our mission to improve maritime search and rescue globally, and to save more lives at risk on the world’s waters. And by “the IMRF”, I mean, of course, the huge organisation that comprises all our members, who do so much to share with and learn from each other, to the benefit of all; not just the tiny group of people who form our Board and Secretariat – although they’ve done a lot too!

Let’s start with IMRF’s response to the Mediterranean migrant crisis, particularly as regards our work in the Aegean Sea (although we have helped in the central Med as well). It seems incredible that it was only at our World Maritime Rescue Congress in June 2015 that our member organisation the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT) first appealed for help with the flood of people heading for Greece. In keeping with our ‘Members Assisting Members’ ethos, a number of our major members in Europe stepped up in response – RS, SSRS, KNRM, DGzRS and the RNLI – and, just 18 months later, there is a well-equipped and trained rescue organisation operating in conjunction with the Hellenic Coast Guard.

The primary aim was to help provide extra rescue capacity to deal with daily mass rescue operations; but at the same time we aimed to permanently improve local response capability. As well as assisting the strategic development of the HRT nationally, frontline response and capacitybuilding has taken place on Samos, Lesvos, Chios and Kos through our members’ efforts, and IMRF has acted as the expert interlocutor between NGOs wanting to help and Government agencies. While there’s still more work to do, the results are already very clear. Thousands of lives have been saved that would otherwise have been lost, and permanent SAR improvements have been set in place.

The Mediterranean work took many of the headlines, but we must remember that people are dying unnecessarily in other parts of the world too, and that IMRF member organisations – many of them small and under-resourced – are struggling to respond. SAR development is what IMRF exists to encourage, and we do it globally.

In Africa we have continued to deliver on the agreed two-year plan for SAR coordination and response development, despite a reduced budget available from the IMO. We were fortunate to have funding support from the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, and continued support for training from IMRF members. Ten regional training courses have now been delivered across North, West and Southern Africa, with 94 key personnel trained; a major SAR exercise was supported in Morocco; and regional meetings have led to further development of government-led regional SAR plans, as well as establishing a work plan to put actions in place to improve communications. We are now working with four of the five SAR regions in Africa; a total of 23 countries. A training and development plan for 2017-2019 has been developed and agreed. You can find out more at the www.imrfafrica.org web portal.

Global SAR development continues in the Asia-Pacific region too. The IMRF’s Asia Pacific Regional Centre’s influence continues to grow: for example, the APRC has been asked to assist with a Pacific Islands SAR development meeting next year. And, recognising that mass rescue operations are a major challenge in the region, an MRO workshop was run as part of the 6th ISAR Conference in Malaysia this year, with 60 participants and delivered by John Geel of KNRM. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

DECEMBER 2016 The third Regional Development meeting held in Ningbo, China, was also a great success, with a number of initiatives advanced: see www.imrf.asia. And – on another level – APRC also coordinated the delivery of 1000 donated lifejackets to fishermen in Bangladesh following the drowning of 320 of their colleagues in a September 2015 storm.

In another corner of the world the IMRF European Region’s Lifeboat Crew Exchange continues to go from strength to strength, brilliantly coordinated by KNRM’s Linde Jelsma and her host country team. 65 people from 12 countries participated in 2016, hosted by nine different organisations. We have now run five Exchanges with 17 countries involved and 310 lifeboat volunteers taking part – not counting all those involved in hosting. The satisfaction rate recorded is huge, and 99% of attendees surveyed say they learned something new.

There are many heroes in SAR. We all know that – and we know that not all of them are rescue craft crew. In recognition of this, the IMRF has launched our H.E.R.O. awards – Honouring Excellence in Rescue Operations, working with our trusted SAR partner McMurdo and supported this year by Inmarsat and the Portuguese Lifesaving Institute (who hosted one of the award ceremonies). We have had a very successful first year, with very high quality nominations across a range of SAR activity and from every continent. See page 3 in this edition of LIFE LINE. It’s great to have the opportunity to celebrate the work done by rescuers, innovators and coordinators around the world – and nominations are already coming in for next year.

Influence and SAR advocacy is part of the IMRF’s function too. We have had another very busy year at the International Maritime Organization, for example, and in the IMO’s joint working group on SAR with the International Civil Aviation Organization, where IMRF contributions are sought and respected. Increasing demand for IMRF comment and involvement often exceeds our ability to respond, unfortunately; but we have an increasing pool of member representatives happy to step in and speak, facilitate, or advise on the IMRF’s behalf. My special thanks to them – and to all IMRF members who have, one way or another, ‘worn our hat’ this year. The willingness of our members to be part of the solution is continually refreshing to see.

I record my grateful thanks to the IMRF’s Board for all their support during the year – and I must mention the Secretariat too: they run fast and jump high! Looking back on 2016 we are proud of what has been achieved with a small but very enthusiastic and effective team.

Rebecca and Caroline are very welcome additions: the skills they bring will help build our membership and develop our funding base. Dave’s work, particularly at the IMO and on mass rescue operations, continues to give us great credibility. Wendy manages our increasingly large window to the world with great skill, providing portals and contact points that maximise our IT communications.

And Jill’s calm ability to make the financial numbers work is genuinely amazing!

Friends: I think you will agree that it has been another good year. In fact, many of you have already been kind enough to say so! Now we look forward to 2017. Most of the things I’ve mentioned here are ongoing areas of work – but there will be new things too, of course, some of them mentioned elsewhere in this issue. Our Chairman, Udo Helge Fox, will be taking a wider look at the horizon ahead in the February edition of LIFE LINE.

And Finally...For now it just remains for me – on behalf of all at the IMRF – to wish you all the compliments of the season, all the best for 2017, safe passage, and successful lifesaving. page 12