LIFELINE August 2011 - English

LIFE LINE

August 2011

December 2010 The Newsletter of the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) December 2010 News… Experience… Ideas… Information… Development…

December 2010 In this issue:   

the World Maritime Rescue Congress and the IMRF’s Quadrennial General Meeting news from China, South Africa, Morocco, Canada, the USA and the UK and more!

A message from the Chairman of the IMRF Trustees

December 2010 December 2010 December

2010which It gives me very great pleasure to write a short introduction to this special edition of the IMRF newsletter, ‘goes to press’ in time for our World Maritime Rescue Congress in Shanghai.

The Congress is, of course, a major event in the IMRF’s calendar. It brings us together, as representatives of December maritime lifesaving organisations old and new, large and small, government agencies and charities, lifeboat men 2010 and women, helicopter crews, lifeguards, SAR coordinators from around the globe: different people of different nationalities with many different jobs to do; but with one common human aim - to save those in peril on the sea.

December

I would like to take this opportunity to express, on behalf of all the IMRF Members and Trustees, our heartfelt thanks to Jiahui Song and all our other friends and colleagues in China Rescue and Salvage, who will2010 be hosting the Congress and who have worked so hard over the past months to make it happen. I will not try to list all the names of those who deserve our thanks - but others will, I hope, forgive me if I single out our Secretary, Gerry December Keeling; Xiao Liang of the CRS; and Ann Laing of the IMRF. I know others have laboured very hard - but these 2010 three have received most of my emails on the subject! Thank you very much, and well done.

Not all of you can actually be at the Congress, I know, or at the IMRF’s Quadrennial General Meeting that December accompanies it. But you can all share in it: I very much hope you will. If your organisation has a representative at the Congress, I’m sure that they will report back to you. And you will be able to read in future editions of2010 LIFE LINE what we got up to; or you can visit our website - www.international-maritime-rescue.org - where, in due course, you will be able to read reports and view some of the presentations given in Shanghai.

The QGM is an important meeting. At it, the IMRF Trustees will be reporting back on what has been achieved over the last four years - which is a great deal, I think, even if not everything we would have wished: there are still plenty of challenges for our organisation to take on! At the QGM too, and over the Congress as a whole, we will be able to plan the IMRF’s activities for the next four years.

All this will be reported in LIFE LINE. Whether you are at Congress or not, do let me urge you to join in the discussion. The IMRF is yours, after all, and we want to know what you want it to do for you.

Michael Vlasto, Chairman of IMRF Trustees

World Maritime Rescue Congress Special Edition

December 2010 December 2010 December 2010 December 2010 December 2010 December 2010 December page 1 2010 December

LIFE LINE

August 2011

Editorial Welcome to LIFE LINE’s special Congress edition.

In this issue you’ll find more details of how the Congress and the IMRF’s Quadrennial General Meeting will work, and what will be on offer. We also include a short history of our generous hosts (and IMRF Members), China Rescue and Salvage, who will celebrate their th 60 Anniversary during the Congress week.

LIFE LINE takes great pleasure in passing on its readers’ congratulations to our Chinese friends!

Contents A message from the Chairman Editorial

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Dates for the Diary

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1 2 2

World Maritime Rescue Congress

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3

IMRF Asia Pacific Regional Centre

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3

IMRF Quadrennial General Meeting

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3

How the Congress will work

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4

Mass rescue operations

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4

Rescue boat guidelines

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4

International development

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4

China Rescue and Salvage

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5

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6

IMO news

News from South Africa

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6

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6

News from Morocco, Canada and the United States ...................

7

SAR Matters .............................................

8

But - as Michael has acknowledged - not all our readers are able to attend these meetings.

Wherever the Congress were to be held around the world it would always be a long trip for some of our Members - and travel is especially difficult in these times of financial crisis. Besides: someone has to stay behind to be ready to answer those calls for help...

News from the United Kingdom

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8

Send us your news & pictures

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8

If you are such a reader, be assured that LIFE LINE has not forgotten you!

World Maritime Rescue Congress

First, we will be reporting in future issues on the results of both the Congress and the QGM. Don’t forget our website, either: there will be lots of useful information posted there, including copies of the presentations given in Shanghai. Go to www.international-maritimerescue.org. And, if you need to know more, write in and ask us about it.

The Congress is hosted by China Rescue and Salvage, in Shanghai, and comprises presentations, workshops, an international SAR exhibition, and a live SAR exercise. It is also the venue for the IMRF Members’ quadrennial general meeting.

The Congress, the QGM, and the International SAR exhibition that accompany them, are, of course, major and exciting events in the IMRF’s calendar, as Michael Vlasto, our Chair, has said in his Message on page 1.

A visit to the IMRF

Second, we’ve more for you in this edition than just the Congress, important though that event undoubtedly is. The world of SAR continues, and we have news from around that world which we hope will be of interest to you.

Dates for the Diary

24-28 Aug 2011

European Regional Meeting

The next IMRF European Regional Development meeting will be hosted in Oslo by the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue. th The Regional Meeting, on the 28 , will be preceded by the Norwegian Maritime Rescue Conference on the 27th. For more details please contact Ann Laing at a.laing@internationalmaritime-rescue.org.

Speaking of which... let me again take this opportunity to urge you to send us your news, your ideas, your problems, your solutions.

Your colleagues in SAR worldwide would like to hear from you! Please send your news items, and pictures, to the address below.

SAR ASIA-2011

And best wishes to you all, whether you are at the Congress or not!

Mass Rescue Conference

Dave Jardine-Smith news@internationalmaritime-rescue.org

27-28 Oct 2011

6-7 Dec 2011

The first Shephard Group SAR event in the Asia-Pacific region will be held in the Holiday Inn Atrium, Singapore. For programme enquires contact Capt Gabriel Kinney, USCG (retired) at gkinney@twcny.rr.com.

4-5 June 2012

The second in IMRF‟s conference series on mass rescue at sea will continue work begun in Gothenburg in June 2010 (see report in the October 2010 issue of LIFE LINE) and progressed at the World Maritime Rescue Congress in Shanghai. Further details will be announced in LIFE LINE in due course.

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LIFE LINE

The World Maritime Rescue Congress being held in Shanghai continues the long traditions of International Lifeboat Conferences dating back to 1924. Sharing SAR ideas and experience to the benefit of all is a longstanding tradition. We are continuing it in 2011.

This year’s event will include: Opening and keynote addresses from VIPs and leading experts The International Search and Rescue Exhibition The IMRF Quadrennial General Meeting Syndicate sessions, in which delegates can listen to presentations and exchange experiences, ideas, and lessons learned in search and rescue worldwide Workshops on key topics pertinent to international search and rescue Planning sessions identifying future priorities for the global SAR community A live SAR demonstration, and visits to local maritime facilities And, last but by no means least, a celebration of our hosts China th Rescue and Salvage’s 60 Anniversary!

As to the World Maritime Rescue Congress itself, let us emphasise again that it is about SAR people talking together - not being talked at by a succession of speakers. There will be introductory presentations in most of the Congress sessions, but the focus will be firmly on exchanging ideas, developments and lessons learned, as well as promoting open discussion among delegates.

Two of the main streams of discussion will continue core IMRF work already established at earlier conferences:

August 2011

An IMRF Asia Pacific Regional Support Centre A Regional Support Centre is being very kindly provided to the IMRF by China Rescue and Salvage.

The Centre, at the CRS site at Donghai, will be formally handed over immediately prior to the Congress. It will initially provide a home for IMRF secondees and volunteers in China and a base for future developmental programmes within the region.

IMRF QGM The IMRF’s Quadrennial General Meeting will run in parallel with the World Maritime Rescue Congress. Anyone can attend the QGM - indeed, all Congress delegates will be very welcome - but please note that, under the terms of the IMRF’s constitution, only paid-up Full Member organisations are entitled to vote.

Developing IMRF guidance on the design and operation of maritime rescue vessels of less than 24m length.

One very important item on the QGM agenda is the election of Trustees to guide the IMRF during its next four-year period, 2011-2015.

Two more work streams will also be running, for topics of general interest to those involved in SAR on the water. We will be discussing how to help those working in SAR in the developing world, for example, as well as discussing new equipment and other important developments.

Another is a proposed change to the IMRF’s constitution; a change which seeks to improve continuity of the Federation’s management by amending the rules relating to Trustee tenure.

On the next page you will find an explanation of how the Congress will run. If you are attending, you might like to look at this together with your full Congress programme, to help you decide which of the work streams you want to participate in in each of the Congress sessions.

If you are a nominated representative of an IMRF Member organisation attending the Congress, please try to get along to the QGM too.

Do make full use of this opportunity to contribute to the IMRF’s work! This is your Congress; your chance to be heard on the world SAR stage!

And even if you’re not, please feel free to attend if you have time: the Trustees and Secretariat are keen to hear your views!

Large scale (‘mass’) rescue operations; and

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August 2011

How the Congress will work

Mass Rescue Operations

It may seem a little odd to be given a ‘user’s manual’ for a conference - but the World Maritime Rescue Congress is no ordinary conference! Mindful of readers who cannot, unfortunately, be with us in Shanghai, we will only explain the basics here. If you are at the Congress and things still aren’t clear after reading this and the programme in your conference pack, please contact any of the Congress team for assistance.

Improving worldwide SAR services’ ability to deal with the rescue of large numbers of people (‘mass rescue operations’, as IMO call them) has been a major theme of the IMRF’s work over the last four years.

After registering at the Congress desk in the InterContinental rd Shanghai EXPO hotel - the main Congress venue - on the 23 , delegates will be welcomed at a ‘Meet and Greet’ reception, where, we imagine, the SAR debates will begin in earnest! th

On the morning of Wednesday 24 there will be a live SAR demonstration: details of transport and timing will be in your conference packs. There will be welcome and keynote addresses in the afternoon. We are delighted that very senior Chinese officials will be joining us, as well as Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization; an old friend of SAR at the highest level. th

th

Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 inclusive will contain the main Congress working sessions at the InterContinental EXPO. This is where it all gets just a little complicated!

Each morning will begin with a session of the IMRF’s Quadrennial meeting: please see the article on page 3. The rest of each day will then be broken up into sessions of no more than one hour each, with plenty of time to network and to visit the International SAR Exhibition in between.

The first two sessions, on Thursday morning, will run in three simultaneous work streams; on international development, the rescue boat guidelines, and mass rescue operations. A little more detail on each is given alongside.

On Thursday afternoon and Friday and Saturday mornings, there will be four simultaneous streams. The rescue boat guidelines and mass rescue operations work will continue; and there will also be two streams of more general topics to choose from. To make choosing just a little easier, the rescue boat sessions will each run twice, to allow delegates greater flexibility.

On the Friday afternoon our hosts have arranged visits to local maritime facilities. On the Saturday afternoon, while the rescue boat and mass rescue streams conclude, there will be two forums at which any SAR topic may be raised and discussed. th

And on the final morning, Sunday 28 , there will be summaries and a final open forum designed to send the IMRF off on our next four-year voyage with plenty of useful things to do!

In Shanghai we will hold four workshops, loosely titled ‘On Scene Operations’, ‘Coordination’, ‘Communications’, and ‘Mass Rescue Planning’, in which we will explore ways of achieving this aim. There will also be a number of talks by leading experts to help inform our discussions; and a tabletop exercise to help focus our thinking.

Rescue Boat Guidelines Another major theme of the IMRF’s work over the last four years has been the development of guidelines on how to design, equip and operate a rescue boat of less than 24 metres length. This is a good example of the IMRF doing its job: sharing experience and best practice in practical, userfriendly ways.

In Shanghai the emphasis will be on reporting on the work done so far - and seeking delegates’ input. So as to enable as much participation as possible, each session in this work stream will be run twice - so if you can’t make one session, you have a second chance!

And if you’re not at the Congress but still want to help, please email imrfcode@googlemail.com.

International development There will also be an important discussion forum at the Congress on the difficult question of how best to help develop SAR in the poorer parts of the world. This is another of the IMRF’s key aims, and, in terms of numbers of lives to be saved, it is the most important of all.

The IMRF will be seeking to learn from its experience in this area, bad as well as good.

There is a very long way still to go on this - but that should not deter us from making the journey. page 4

LIFE LINE

China Rescue and Salvage The CRS are our hosts at the World Maritime Rescue Congress; and IMRF Members. This short history of the organisation celebrates its 60th Anniversary this year. If other Members would like to feature their own organisations in LIFE LINE, please contact news@international-maritime-rescue.org.

August 2011

with 340 people aboard: many rescue vessels of the Beihai Rescue Bureau responded and the Liaohai was salved without loss of life - a very different outcome from the Dashun disaster five years before. And in a 50 day period of bitter and stormy weather in the winter of 2005 the Rescue Bureaux, working with the maritime Flying Service, made 42 sorties, using a total of 28 rescue vessels and 14 helicopters, to save 246 lives.

Having set up, in all, 21 rescue bases, 59 aircraft landing points, 10 flying bases and 18 professional Emergency Response Rescue Teams equipped with nearly 200 rescue and salvage vessels and 21 rescue aircraft, CRS now covers the Chinese coastline from the mouth of the Yalujiang River in the north to Xisha Waters in the south. The service presently has some ten thousand employees - 80% of whom are technicians, divers and crew members.

China is a great and ancient seafaring nation. It has a large seagoing fleet, with many more craft working on its inland waters - and its shipping industry continues to grow. China Rescue & Salvage (CRS), of the Ministry of Transport, is responsible in Chinese waters for the security of navigation, shipping and seamen - and it continues to adjust to changing needs.

The service was founded in 1951, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and it played a key part in China’s recovery, clearing channels and seaways. In 1959, while its salvage and clearance work continued, it was agreed that the organisation should place equal emphasis on rescue work, and by 1963 rescue stations had been established in Taijin, Yantai, Qingdao and Shanghai.

In the succeeding decades the organisation was involved in many national key projects and in important rescue & salvage work. By 1980 it had set up eight rescue bases, in Qinhuangdao, Rongcheng, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shantou, Beihai, Zhanjiang and Sanya; and the organisation continued to develop, learning from sometimes terrible experience, such as the loss of 280 people when the Dashun ferry caught fire and capsized in a typhoon in November 1999.

In 2003 it was decided that the conventional approach to rescue and salvage was no longer adequate to meet the requirements of rapidly developing maritime industries.

CRS began an ongoing process of reforms, separating its rescue and salvage functions and improving its resources, training, and response times. It now has three Rescue Bureaux, three Salvage Bureaux and four Flying Service units; and, in the true spirit of SAR, it has worked with international partners - on the provision of SAR helicopter training and of fast rescue craft, for example.

CRS, says the service’s Director General, Capt Song Jiahui, adopts a triple ‘three-inone’ approach: “We comprise three services - our rescue service, our salvage service and our flying service. We shoulder three responsibilities lifesaving, environmental protection and property recovery. And we fulfil three functions - fast rescue in the air, rapid response on the ocean’s surface, and diving rescue and salvage under the water.

“This triple three-in-one capability enables CRS to provide an effective response to all kinds of emergencies and to manage accidents at sea efficiently.

It meets the needs of maintaining sea safety and assisting emergency response to all accidents on Chinese waters.”

In the wake of reform of the rescue & salvage institution itself, the maritime rescue staff of the Ministry of Transport have put in place a dynamic standby duty system and have developed joint air / sea rescue procedures. Their work has extended from the sea to inland waters, and CRS has become an indispensable part of China’s emergency response mechanism.

By the end of May 2011, the service had saved 57,145 people in distress - often in extremely adverse weather conditions; salvaged 4,114 distressed vessels; and refloated 1,744 sunken ships. The total value of property salved since 2002 has reached RMB 70.08 billion.

A maritime rescue success story indeed.

The results of the reforms begun in 2003 were immediate. In the 18 months from mid-2003 to the end of 2004, 2769 people were rescued and 171 vessels saved: increases year-on-year of 71% and 350% respectively.

Notable milestones passed. The organisation’s first helicopter rescue was of a badly injured fisherman 70 miles east of the Yangtze, on 24 July 2003. On 16 November 2004 the ferry Liaohai caught fire off Dalian page 5

LIFE LINE

IMO News As regular readers will know, the IMRF has consultative status at the IMO as a non-governmental representative organisation. This means that the IMRF can present papers to the IMO and express the views of its Members on relevant subjects.

We have recently received invitations to upcoming IMO meetings, later this year and early next. If Members wish to know more, please contact Dave Jardine-Smith of the IMRF Secretariat: d.jardinesmith@internationalmaritime-rescue.org.

The meetings recently announced are of the: IMO Council, 17-18 Nov 11 IMO Assembly, 21-30 Nov 11 Sub-Committee on Stability and Load Lines and on Fishing Vessel Safety, 16-20 Jan 12 Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment, 13-17 Feb 12 Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR - at which we are always represented), 12-16 March 12; and Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 90), 16-25 May 12.

August 2011

News from South Africa Andrew Ingram, of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) of South Africa, writes: On the night of 15 June 2011 three NSRI volunteers launched their 5.5m rigid inflatable boat Queenie Paine from their base on South Africa’s Southern Cape coast to go to the aid of the 13.5m catamaran Gulliver, in the most appalling conditions that any of them had experienced.

That afternoon all communications with the yacht had been lost, although she was known to be in the Cape Infanta area. When an EPIRB signal from Gulliver was identified 10 nautical miles offshore, NSRI’s Station 33 at Witsand was asked to respond. Coxswain Attie Gunter with Leon Pretorius and Quentin Diener as crew, launched at 2115.

The weather was building from the northwest. A full moon eclipse made the night very dark and the first hurdle that the rescue boat had to negotiate was the shifting sand bars at the entrance to the flooding Breede river, on which Station 33 is located.

Flares were fired to light their way.

Then the little rescue boat set out across San Sebastian Bay. Whilst in the lee of Cape Infanta the sea conditions were fair and despite the utter darkness, guided by the onboard GPS Queenie Paine made good progress.

Then, some 5 miles from shore and now out in the open sea, the RIB was struck by the full might of the Force 7.

An IMRF visit

Michael Vlasto, IMRF Chairman, presents a plaque to Zhai Jiugang, Deputy Director General of the Chinese Ministry of Transport’s Maritime Search & Rescue Centre, during a visit Mr Zhai made to the IMRF in April.

Breaking swells were building to over 6 metres in height and sea spray assaulted the crew from all directions.

Although the eclipse was over, the overcast sky gave no light. They were all constantly deluged in seawater, and radio communications with their Witsand base was lost. Conditions were at the outer margin of the rescue boat’s operating limits but Attie and his crew pressed on.

suffering from hypothermia different degrees.

to

With great difficulty Leon and Quentin hauled them aboard the Queenie Paine; a job that took over half an hour, whilst all the time having to deal with the battering they were receiving from the storm.

Low in the water and sluggish because of the weight of seven men on board, the little rescue boat then turned for home.

It was a nightmare return journey conning the heavy-laden vessel through tumultuous seas. Attie had to drive Queenie Paine forwards by instinct, powering through the waves as best he could and then throttling back to try to stop the rescue boat crashing off the crest into the following trough. Quentin crouched in the bow to keep it down, hanging on grimly to whatever he could. Leon stood beside Attie, keeping up a stream of encouragement.

Conditions improved once back in the shelter of Cape Infanta and radio contact was restored. Stopping briefly outside the Breede River mouth to refuel from containers taken with them, Queenie Paine reached home at 0030. The trip had been 3¼ hours of sheer hell and only succeeded because of the total dedication to their task of all three members of the rescue boat’s crew.

Acting without thought for their own safety and concerned only for the welfare of the four persons in distress, the crew’s gallantry, skill and perseverance in the face of daunting odds that night was in the very best traditions of the National Sea Rescue Institute.

Attie Gunter, Leon Pretorius and Quentin Diener have been honoured with the NSRI’s Gallantry Award Silver class. This is the highest award issued by NSRI since the system was introduced in 1998.

Arriving at the Gulliver’s last known position a flare was fired. One of the crew glimpsed a small light in the seething waters ahead. It was the casualty’s EPIRB. All four yachtsmen were found in their liferaft, secured to the upturned hull of their boat, and

Queenie Paine and her awardwinning crew

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LIFE LINE

August 2011

News from Canada Canada is deploying unmanned surveillance aircraft to the High Arctic for the first time, reports Toronto’s National Post, as part of a major exercise taking place as LIFE LINE goes to press.

News from Morocco Hamish McDonald writes: From 7-10 June Udo Fox and myself, as Trustees of the IMRF, took part in a conference and SAREX relating to emergency response to a maritime mass casualty situation, hosted in Tangier, Morocco. For the past few years Morocco has run an annual major maritime SAR exercise with contributions from the North West Africa region and the neighbouring European countries; on this occasion there were delegates and participants from Cape Verde, Gambia, Germany, Morocco, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The conference was opened by the Secretary General of the Moroccan Sea Fisheries Department, the Moroccan SAR Coordinator - and I was asked to reply to his opening address on behalf of the IMRF. Udo Fox did the IMRF very proud by presenting no less than three Papers on a variety of subjects relating to response to a mass casualty situation.

I presented a paper entitled “Mass rescue – by whatever means available” and Mikael Hinnerson of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society gave a paper on the First Independent Response Safety Transfer Project (FIRST) [which we have reported on in earlier editions of LIFE LINE: Ed.]

The SAREX took place the day after the conference and Udo was asked by the Moroccan authorities to observe from the exercise command and control site and I from onboard the ferry Banasa. Both of us were requested to provide the Moroccan authorities with a summary of our views on the aspects of the SAREX we were party to.

A brief general summary of the SAREX from Hamish’s perspective aboard Banasa may be found in in the SAR Matters column of this edition of LIFE LINE. The pictures show the command centre (above) and the scene of the action during the exercise.

Catapult-launched Boeing ScanEagle drones, similar to those used by the Canadian army for surveillance, are being deployed in a major air disaster scenario in an extremely remote area near Resolute, Nunavut, about 3,000 kilometres north of Ottawa. They are also assisting in a major maritime disaster exercise being overseen by the Canadian Coast Guard in waters between Canada and Greenland.

"It's precedent setting," Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay says. "We can link satellite capability to UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] to help find people and crash sites."

The drones will provide data to infantry from Alberta and Quebec, responding as part of ‘Operation Nanook’. Also participating across Canada's vast northern archipelago will be other military units, Mounties and officials from Transport Canada, Public Safety Canada, Environment Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs.

Three Danish navy ships and an icebreaker from the US Coast Guard have accepted invitations from Canada to take part in the exercise.

“It is in every polar country's interest,” notes Mr MacKay, “To cooperate and collaborate on issues such as search and rescue and the environment.”

We can all agree with that!

News from the United States John Cooper has been appointed as the new Director of the International Affairs Directorate of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary.

The USCG aims to assist in the establishment of volunteer organizations in other nations as ‘force multipliers,’ and the Auxiliary is well-positioned in both the Caribbean Basin and the Asia/Pacific region to assist in this mission. The Auxiliary’s International Affairs team can assist in all USCG Auxiliary activities in the international arena, and is the only Auxiliary organisation authorised to work with official and volunteer SAR organisations in countries outside the US. Postscript: Ev Tucker, an old friend of the ILF / IMRF, has now retired from the Auxiliary. More in our next edition. page 7

LIFE LINE

August 2011

SAR Matters

News from the United Kingdom

This discussion column provides a forum for LIFE LINE readers worldwide to contribute to debate on any relevant SAR issue. Comment and/or new items for discussion should be emailed to news@international-maritimerescue.org. In this edition we look again at learning from experience.

The UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency has published guidance to its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre staff on how to plan searches based on mobile telephone or other mobile communications device data.

Lessons learned...

In our two last editions we have discussed the subject of how to ensure that lessons learned during drills and actual emergency response are acted upon, so that good ideas can be spread across the SAR community, and past mistakes avoided in future. This time let’s look at an example: the results of the SAREX in Morocco reported on page 7.

The exercise was based on a scenario involving an explosion and fire aboard the Comarit-owned ferry Banasa shortly after it left the port of Tanger-Med bound for Tarifa in Spain. The alert was given and two partially enclosed lifeboats were launched, and driven clear of the ship.

The first visible emergency response to the abandonment situation was an overflight by a reconnaissance plane. Shortly afterward two Moroccan rescue boats arrived on scene. These SAR assets were then joined by waterborne assets from various other agencies. A rescue boat attempted to take one of the ship’s lifeboats in tow, but failed. Soon after a Spanish rescue boat secured a lifeboat in an alongside tow. A small inflatable deployed from a Gendarmerie Royale patrol boat transferred survivors in several stages from the other lifeboat to various rescuing craft. SAR helicopters then recovered a number of survivors from the water.

After recovery all the survivors were taken to the ferry terminal, where they were transferred ashore to waiting triage and medical support services.

Expert IMRF observers felt that the SAREX demonstrated the Moroccan authorities’ ability to call on, command and control a wide range of multinational and multi-agency emergency response assets in dealing with a maritime mass casualty situation.

UK MRCCs often receive emergency calls from people using mobile phones or devices such as PDAs to report their problem. MRCCs also make use of this sort of data to try to locate device users on overdue craft or missing on the coast.

Information immediately available to the MRCC receiving an emergency call includes only a general prediction of the area within which the device is being used. But MRCC staff can also contact service providers for extra search information - such as when and where a phone was last used.

The guidance now includes a procedure for making use of the sector arrays of mobile phone aerials.

Instead of a general prediction, the search planner can now learn that a signal actually originated within a defined arc (120° for the aerial shown below). This usefully reduces the area needing to be searched - which is always a good thing!

Not everything went smoothly - but, then again, it never does. As one of the observers noted, “The whole point of an exercise such as this is to test and evaluate the response system and its components, to identify strengths and weaknesses, and learn from the information gained. The exercise debrief should prove invaluable to the Moroccan authorities as they continue to develop their emergency response capability.”

We hope that you too will consider sharing your experience, good and bad, with your colleagues worldwide via LIFE LINE. Email news@internationalmaritime-rescue.org.

And finally...

We hope that you have found this issue of LIFE LINE informative and interesting. We are well aware that there is much more going on among IMRF‟s membership that could be reported here, to the benefit of all - but, of course, we rely on you, the reader, to tell us about it! LIFE LINE and the IMRF website depend on you to provide their contents - your news, your projects, your events, your ideas, your lessons learned.

We also need your pictures, please: good quality pictures (more than 250 kB, if possible) of your SAR units - boats, ships, aircraft, RCCs etc. These will be used in LIFE LINE and on the website - but are also needed for presentations and to accompany press articles about the IMRF and its worldwide work.

Please send articles and pictures (or links to them, with formal permission for them to be used for IMRF purposes) to news@international-maritime-rescue.org.

Let’s spread the word, for the benefit of all at risk on the world’s waters.

LIFE LINE page 8