LIFELINE August 2013 - English

LIFE LINE

August 2013

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

December 2010 In this issue:     

December 2010

The Baltic SAREX IMRF projects: crew exchange, and water safety & education News from Uganda, Tanzania, North West Africa, the South Pacific, the UK, Ireland andDecember China Changes at the IMO 2010 and more!

December 2010

The start of my new life!

Michael Vlasto writes:

December 2010

Your Chairman has to report that he retired from full-time employment with th the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on 12 July, following more than 38 years service with this unique organisation.

December 2010

It has been a very busy time saying thank you to so many friends and colleagues from all around the coasts of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, together with staff who in some cases I have worked with for well over twenty years. I am not a believer in saying goodbye as I hope to see many of these good people again as I travel around the coast and also through what I hope will be an increasing involvement with the IMRF over the years to come.

December 2010 IMRF Chairman (and retiring RNLI Operations Director) Michael Vlasto, at the naming December ceremony for the first in the ‘Shannon’ class of RNLI Lifeboat in July – see page 8.

2010

They say that retiring can be a stressful experience. However, this has not been my experience to date (three weeks in!)

December and I also feel that it was the right time for change. No-one is indispensable, and new blood and new ideas are needed to keep organisations moving forwards. Much has happened during the time I have been with the RNLI and it 2010 has been a real labour of love working with such dedicated and focussed people: it is the people that make an organisation like the RNLI what it is. Lifeboat and lifesaving equipment developments, training, prevention and the many other areas of activity I have December been involved in are important, of course; but it is the people who make it all happen.

2010 It has been a real privilege working for an organisation that has been prepared to move with the times and the needs of maritime SAR provision. Change can be threatening to some: the RNLI’s move into lifeguarding, for example, raised a few December eyebrows and generated some understandable concerns at the time. However, we now have a growing lifesaving 2010 service that is second to none. I wish the RNLI ongoing success in the future.

December Of course I now have more time to do more volunteering for the IMRF and some other lifesaving / maritime organisations with which I am still involved. I am also greatly looking forward to being able to use the experience gained from my years in 2010 the RNLI to good effect in other parts of the world, which have perhaps been less fortunate with the support they have received to help them develop. There is much still to do!

December 2010

The International Maritime Rescue Federation is a registered company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom and registered as a charity in England and Wales Patron: Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization, 2004-2011

December 2010

Registered office: IMRF West Quay Road Poole BH15 1HZ United Kingdom Company Registration Number: 4852596 Charity Registration Number: 1100883

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

December 2010 December

LIFE LINE

August 2013

Editorial Welcome to the latest edition of your newsletter.

I’m afraid I must open this issue with an apology. In the June LIFE LINE editorial we announced a new telephone number for our main administration office in Stonehaven. Unfortunately the number given in the early edition of the newsletter was incorrect. (It was the number originally given to us by our telecoms supplier – who subsequently changed it...)

So – with apologies – please note that the phone number for Ann Laing and her team is now:

+44 (0)1569 767405 We have also been making changes aimed at improving our email and other IT support systems. As a result we have a new primary email contact for the IMRF admin team. It is: info@imrf.org.uk The old email addresses will still work, so you can still contact us at info@international-maritimerescue.org; but the new address involves less typing!

It’s easier to send in news items for LIFE LINE and/or the IMRF website now, too. The address for your news is: news@imrf.org.uk As ever, we look forward to hearing from you. * And there’s lots more to read about in this issue in the meantime! As usual, we have news from all around the world; from some of the largest SAR and water safety organisations to some of the smallest.

A common thread? It’s people, of course. In preparing this edition I was struck by the number of articles which came back to this central point. The IMRF, and SAR in general, is about saving people’s lives, obviously – although perhaps it’s worth emphasising from time to time that that means everyone in distress in the world’s waters, whoever they are and however they got there.

But it’s people that make SAR work, too. Without dedicated, selfless and professionally-minded volunteers, many IMRF Members would not be able to provide SAR or water safety support services at all. And let’s not forget those for whom SAR is their paid work, wholly or partly. For these colleagues too, the pay is not really the point: SAR becomes a passion, a vocation, a life’s work.

Contents Start of a new life .................................

Editorial .................................

Dates for the Diary .................................

Baltic SAREX .................................

News from Uganda .................................

Water safety & education ...................

Coastguard New Zealand ...................

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

News from North West Africa ...................

Better ferries for the developing world ....

Day of the Seafarer .................................

A new lifeboat .................................

Exchanging crews .................................

News from the South Pacific ...................

The Usizame project .................................

Changes at the IMO .................................

European regional meeting ...................

Major emergency on the Irish coast ....

Welcome .................................

IMRF Trustee honoured ...................

Savings at the IMRF Bookshop ....

Send us your news & pictures ....

1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 12 12

Dates for the Diary IMRF Mass Rescue Operations Workshop, Dhaka 13 August 2013 Contact info@imrf.org.uk for details.

IMRF Regional Meeting & Mass Rescue Operations Workshop, Hong Kong 5-6 September 2013 Contact info@imrf.org.uk for details.

IMRF NW African Regional Meeting, Gran Canaria 5-6 October 2013 Contact info@imrf.org.uk for details.

IMRF European Regional Development Meeting 18-19 October 2013 To be held in Estonia. See page 11 for details.

World Conference on Drowning Prevention 20-22 October 2013 International Life Saving event to be held in Potsdam, Germany.

See www.wcdp2013.org for further details.

Maritime Search and Rescue Asia

11 November 2013

To be held in Singapore. See www.maritimesearchrescueasia.com.

‘Gothenburg 3’: the next in the IMRF’s mass rescue operations conference series 1-3 June 2014 Hosted by the Swedish Sea Rescue Society. Details in due course.

It’s a pleasure to read about you!

World Maritime Rescue Congress Dave Jardine-Smith news@imrf.org.uk

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

1-4 June 2015

Advance notice of the IMRF’s next Congress and quadrennial general meeting. Details in due course.

page 2

LIFE LINE

August 2013

Baltic SAREX – breaking down walls!

Sooner or later we will be alerted to a joint mission. Then it is important that we have trained together and are confident with each other and our work practices.”

Matthew Fader, of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, and the Swedish Maritime Administration’s Johan Mårtensson write:

Since 1996 the Danish Admiral Fleet, Denmark’s SAR agency, has organised the international Search And Rescue EXercise in the waters that surround the island of Bornholm.

Bornholm, located at the east end of Denmark in the Baltic Sea, has been a perfect venue for this type of activity with plenty of resources including a large port capacity, airport facilities, a coordination centre and a conference hall all within a 5 km radius.

This type of live SAR training has grown in popularity and has been a great success within the Baltic States.

Every country has attended, with different types of setup over the years. The training methods used have helped identify a regional standard in SAR operation for international cooperation in the Baltic Sea. When people with the right motivation come together, we can further the development of a joint rescue service. Working across borders with national and international organizations both governmental and voluntary can break down walls and build networks. Efficient and seamless cooperation between multiple organisations is a major factor towards a positive outcome of maritime incidents, large or small.

“SAREX is an important experience of learning from each other,” says Christer Berntsson, District Coordinator and voluntary skipper for the Swedish Sea Rescue Society: “Together we can develop procedures for effective international rescue. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

The main focus in the very near future is to plan for the organisational and economic sustainability of the exercise. It´s unrealistic that the Danes should be expected to continue organising the whole event by themselves – and due to changes in the Danish military organisation it will no longer be possible. At the end of this year Denmark, Sweden and Germany will come together to form an International SAR Team for the organisation of the Baltic SAREX in future.

If everybody brings something to the table with regards to exercise planning we can create a very valuable diversified learning opportunity.

The Swedish Maritime Administration, the Swedish Sea Rescue Society and the Swedish Coast Guard represent ‘Team Sweden’ at SAREX. Both surface and air SAR units participate to improve cooperation between different crews. Together with the SAR coordination function and the SAR management overview, this approach ensures that dangerous situations are avoided and the main focus is on the person(s) in distress.

News from Uganda Austin Andemani, of the Royal Life Saving Society Uganda, writes:

Children from various primary schools within the Kigungu Entebbe Division Wakiso District approached Royal Life Saving Society Uganda in April, asking us to teach them how to swim. Their leaders were Kafuko Celestine, Elisa John, and Mwanga Kenneth Emmanuel Mewedo.

One of the members of the group, Owori Robert, had lost an elder sister in December 2012 when she was one of two children drowned in an accident. Owori wanted to know the basic skills to avoid such a tragedy happening again.

RLSS Uganda started to teach the children in May. As well as teaching them basic swimming skills, our instructors also taught the children basic water safety skills, with the aim of reducing drowning among the members of the community.

Since the local swimming pools are expensive for the children, and RLSS Uganda does not have its own equipment or infrastructure, the children are taught in the Lake on Saturday and Sunday when they are not in school. The training is free of charge. The average number of children per day is around twenty; however, there are still no girls in the group.

Initially only five of the children had some limited swimming skills, but now all the children are advancing in swimming. And more children are interested in joining in – they are seeking their parents’ consent.

These are the fundamental SAR elements that Baltic SAREX helps to foster. page 3

LIFE LINE

August 2013

Water Safety & Education The IMRF’s Ann Laing writes:

Title Text

What an initiative! What a success!

Boating Enthusiasts Set New Lifejacket World Record at ‘Ready, Set, Wear It day on May 18th. At nearly 200 events around the globe, 5,774 participants inflated their inflatable lifejacket or wore an inherently buoyant lifejacket, breaking the world record for lifejacket wear.

The message is clearly ‘Wear It’ – wear your lifejacket at all times while you are on the water.

The IMRF has also signed up to the Australian Recreational Boating Safety Committee’s ‘Lifejacket Wear Principles’ by becoming a Safety Partner, joining the movement to promote personal responsibility through the wearing of lifejackets in small vessels. Similar organisations in other countries, such as the UK’s National Water Safety Forum, are also supporting this initiative.

As a Safety Partner we have formally agreed to:

For more information on this SafeBoatingCampaign.com.

initiative,

visit

The whole subject of Water Safety and Education is huge and diverse. Different cultures may well have different ways of addressing this subject but one thing is for sure – the wearing of a lifejacket whilst on the water (no matter what culture, climate, race, religion or age) will give that necessary time to enable the saving of life. It sounds so simple yet every year thousands lose their lives needlessly.

IMRF’s Water Safety and Education project will concentrate on the promotion of simple safety advice such as this, and I would love to hear what YOUR organisation is doing with regards to education programmes in your area. Our project purpose is to: (1) Encourage and assist members to establish community-led education programmes which:

(2)

o

Improve awareness and education

o

Promote safety and survival on the water

o

Reduce fatalities on the water

o

Recognise the fundamental role the wearing of lifejackets plays in the safeguarding of life for water users;

o

Recognise the importance of promoting the wearing of lifejackets when boating;

o

Endeavour to ensure that any IMRF publication will feature people wearing contemporary style lifejackets when in an outside area of a small craft that is underway;

o

Recommend to the recreational boating industry that its publications similarly feature people wearing lifejackets;

o

Require staff to wear lifejackets whenever they are on the water;

o

Use the term “lifejacket” in public information and education; and

o

Encourage respective boating safety networks to become Safety Partners by supporting the principles above.

The IMRF logo will be displayed on the Lifejacket Wear website, lifejacketwear.com.au. The logo will allow visitors to the website to access information on the IMRF’s role in water safety.

Improve and share: o

Safe practices

o

Knowledge and skills

As a first step, we can put a link to Members’ existing programmes and resources on the IMRF website under ‘Education’, linking to the appropriate parts of your own website. Identifying relevant and successful existing initiatives and the sharing of such information and experience is exactly what the IMRF is about and does so successfully.

I would be delighted to hear from all Members who engage in such programmes and who are willing to share their information with others. A short summary of what your programmes address will enable those looking for a similar programme to make a start.

I look forward to hearing from you. Please email me, Ann Laing, at a.laing@imrf.org.uk.

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

IMRF Members are invited to join in too. Visit the Lifejacket Wear site for background information and follow the process under the “join us” tab. It won’t take a minute, and it will lend support to a simple, yet vital, initiative.

Because it’s a simple fact that people die because they are not wearing lifejackets – even experienced users of the sea, whether for leisure or because it’s their trade; even in good weather and sea conditions; even in sheltered waters, close to home. To say ‘I don’t need a lifejacket’ is, quite honestly, just stupid.

‘Ready, Set, Wear It’ was a fun event. But the IMRF is fully behind the drive that will see it evolve into something that contributes to the culture change needed to save more lives. page 4

LIFE LINE

August 2013

Member Focus: Coastguard NZ Maritime search and rescue in New Zealand dates back to the 1840s when Little Port Cooper Whaling Station on Banks Peninsula had a lifeboat. Then, in 1867, Joseph Day was appointed signalman, and later pilot, at Sumner on the East Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. In keeping with maritime tradition, Day used his pilot boat and sometimes a volunteer crew to save lives when the occasion arose.

In the 1890s it was recognised that maritime rescues would be an ongoing obligation, and in 1898 a purpose-built lifeboat was imported from England. She was christened Rescue and crewed by volunteers from Sumner village, with Joseph Day in command.

In 1904 a new legal entity, Sumner Lifeboat Institution Incorporated, assumed responsibility for maritime rescues in the area. Coxswain Day continued rescuing people until his retirement in December 1912. Since then, generations of Sumner Lifeboat members have followed his pioneering example.

Many Coastguard Units in New Zealand have been started up by a small group of passionate locals following a local boating tragedy, determined that their community would not suffer in a similar way again. Until 1976 these groups tended to operate alone, establishing their own structures and processes and seeking their own funding. However this changed when a group of these organisations formed a national body to provide a national voice and to assist with the ever-present funding issues which volunteer organisations experience.

This organisation was known as the New Zealand Coastguard Federation, later becoming the Royal New Zealand Coastguard Federation when in 1990 Prince Charles accepted the role of Patron. Coastguard in New Zealand continued with this structure until 2004 when the then 63 Coastguard Units around New Zealand agreed to establish a regional structure with each Unit falling under the responsibility of one of four Regions.

At about the same time Coastguard adopted a single logo, replacing the several different identities that had been in place. This paved the way for Coastguard to better develop its brand recognition and organisational profile. The following year the word ‘Federation’ was dropped, with the national body becoming known as The Royal New Zealand Coastguard Inc – which has since evolved further to ‘Coastguard New Zealand’. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

Coastguard Taranaki’s vessel Todd Energy Rescue is an 11.7m rescue vessel designed and built in New Zealand by AMF. The photograph shows her heading in over the Whanganui River Bar having just undergone sea trials in October 2012.

Today there are 71 Coastguard Units located around the coastline and major lakes of New Zealand, with 78 dedicated rescue vessels, 10 Air Patrol Units and one dedicated Communications Unit. Over 2,420 active Professional Volunteers put in over 363,000 hours each year, keeping New Zealanders safe on the water, responding to over 3,000 incidents and assisting over 6,000 people to safety.

A significant amount of time and energy is also spent on volunteer training, including completion of the Coastguard SAR Training Matrix. This consists of modules and practical assessments, and on completion of this matrix our people become Coastguard Rescue Vessel Masters.

There is a Maori proverb: He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata! This means: ‘What is the most important thing in the world? It is people! It is people!

It is people!’ This sums up Coastguard in New Zealand as, without our people, without our selfless Volunteers at the sharp end of Coastguard making themselves available to assist others in need – often over the horizon and out of sight of the public in conditions when most boaties are heading home – we would not be in a position to provide this service to the communities of New Zealand.

If you would like to learn more about Coastguard in New Zealand please visit www.coastguard.co.nz.

Gallagher Rescue, Coastguard Waihi Beach, is a 9.5m Naiad rescue vessel, also designed and built in New Zealand.

She is seen at her launching in January 2013.

page 5

LIFE LINE

August 2013

SAR Matters This column provides a forum for LIFE LINE readers worldwide to contribute to debate on any relevant SAR issue. You can join in, or propose new items for discussion, by emailing news@imrf.org.uk.

Or you can join the discussion on our SAR Matters Blog, online at www.international-maritime-rescue.org.

Have a look at previous discussions on the website too, in the LIFE LINE archive.

In this edition David Jardine-Smith returns to the difficult question of what to do with economic migrants and refugees rescued at sea. These are his personal views, not necessarily those of the IMRF.

Lost at Sea In the April 2012 edition of LIFE LINE (available for free download from www.international-maritime-rescue.org) I discussed the very difficult problem of people seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea, in search of refuge from oppression or simply a better life – things, after all, that any of us would seek for ourselves and our families. I looked at the requirements of the international conventions and the traditions of the sea – that anyone in distress should be rescued whenever possible – and the terrible choice actually facing ship masters: if they pick up migrants: will they be able to land them quickly, or will they be held up (at great cost) while immigration authorities haggle?

I argued then that, although clearly a maritime SAR problem, this was one that could not be solved by the maritime SAR authorities the IMRF represents.

“It can only really be solved by establishing a binding international agreement that landing rescued people in a particular State does not imply that that State has to accept full responsibility for them thenceforward. The problem of what to do with these desperate people should be addressed after they have been delivered to a place of safety, not while they are still on a rescuing ship or, worse still, drifting helplessly at sea.”

But now two States have taken a different approach. On 19 July Australia and Papua New Guinea signed an agreement that asylum-seekers arriving by boat in Australia will be sent to PNG for processing. Those found to be genuine refugees will be settled there, not in Australia. PNG will receive Australian investment in support of the deal.

This development has caused uproar among human rights activists, and deep concerns among all those who sympathise with refugees genuinely seeking safety or, indeed, with economic migrants seeking a better lifestyle.

Critics have accused Australia of shirking its humanitarian responsibilities and shifting the burden onto a developing nation. The Australian Prime Minister himself, Kevin Rudd, freely acknowledged that the new policy was ”hard-line”. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

Outrage is perhaps a little too easy. Humanitarian concerns are foremost in the minds of anyone involved in SAR, of course, and the fundamental principles of refuge must be defended in this light. Indeed, there is nothing wrong in principle with economic migration either: after all, the ancestors of many current inhabitants of many States were migrants of this type, even if most entered their new countries in more acceptable ways.

Mr Rudd does not appear to be contesting the validity of refugee status, nor even the right of people to seek to improve their living conditions. In justifying his Government’s hard-line policy, he addressed instead the awful maritime SAR problem, attacking the traffickers who load desperate people aboard unseaworthy craft for the crossing from Indonesia to Australian territory. "These folk are merchants in death and their business model needs to be dismantled,” he said. The ‘business model’ Mr Rudd refers to seems to be that, once you land on Australian soil, you have a fair chance of being allowed to stay in the country. By sending a clear message that this will not happen, even for legitimate refugees, the Australian Government hope that the flow will decrease.

And it has been increasing of late. According to Australia’s Department of Immigration, 134 boats carrying 6,535 passengers made the crossing in 2010. While the numbers were less in 2011, 2012 saw 278 boats arrive, carrying 17,202 people. And by mid-July this year there had been another 218 boats and 15,182 people.

But Mr Rudd was speaking of those who do not make it.

The clandestine nature of this trade means that the exact number of migrant deaths can never be known – we do not know how many boats set out and vanish, nor how many people were aboard.

We do know that hundreds of people have died, however.

A boat carrying about 150 capsized 70 miles off the Australian territory of Christmas Island on 16 July, with four confirmed dead. Three days earlier nine more had been lost when another boat sank in the area. In June last year 160 are reported to have died in two separate incidents; in August about 100 in two more. In March this year more than 200 were reported lost in yet another sinking; and another 60 in June.

Mr Rudd’s hard-line policy may reduce the flow of economic migrants, and there should be fewer deaths in the waters around Australia as a result. Unhappily, though, it does not solve the global problem, and people may be driven to attempt even more dangerous crossings. Whatever we think of the Australian decision (which is not a simple one), the underlying problem remains – and we in SAR should continue to urge the relevant authorities to address it with due urgency.

page 6

LIFE LINE

News from North West Africa IMRF CEO Bruce Reid writes:

Working with the IMO, the IMRF has been actively supporting the development of the North West Africa SAR Region, with attendance at meetings by Trustees and management and more recently financial support for SAR training and the Regional Meeting.

This support has provided momentum which continued at the most recent meeting and seminar held in Rabat, Morocco, 11-13 June. Trustee Hamish McDonald and I represented the IMRF, alongside the Moroccan SAR Coordinator, Drissi Mohammed, who is also the IMRF’s regional coordinator.

All the initiating members – Morocco, Mauretania, Senegal, The Gambia, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau – were represented at the Regional Meeting, held over the first two days with the third day a local regional seminar.

Key matters resolved by the meeting were: o Formal adoption of the Regional SAR Plan o Creation of a focal point list (single point of contact) o Adoption of common forms for notification of SAR o Adoption of the Regional logo (see above).

August 2013

Better Ferries for the Developing World Student teams from seven maritime universities have submitted proposals for the design competition for Safe Affordable Ferries sponsored by the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association (WFSA).

The WFSA is a not-for-profit organisation whose board is composed of Stuart Ballantyne, Managing Director of Sea Transport Corporation in Southport, Australia, which owns, operates and constructs commercial vessels; Len Roueche, CEO of Interferry (an NGO like IMRF, representing the ferry industry) and leader of their ferry safety project; and Dr Roberta Weisbrod, Principal of Sustainable Ports, a maritime transport consultancy, and coordinator of the Interferry safety project. The Safe Ferry Design competition is funded by a grant from the Heimbinder Family Foundation.

A panel of six judges will review the competition submissions, and the winners will be announced later this nd rd year. The top prize is $5,000, with 2 and 3 prizes also to be awarded.

The student teams taking part are from Istanbul Technical University, Maine Maritime Academy, the National Technical University of Athens, the Tolani Maritime Institute in India, the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen, the University of British Columbia, and the Webb Institute in New York.

It was agreed that a training needs gap analysis should be done, with regional requirements including grass roots core SAR skills, coordination and management, and trainer training. Perceived and actual asset requirements were also discussed – the IMRF’s Rescue Boat Guidelines will be of help here.

Communications and IT support also need improvement, especially as regards alerting systems for artisanal fishermen, and drift plotting. It was agreed that the fishing community represent both the biggest challenge and the best opportunity. They are a high-risk group – but are also excellent potential first responders. Local initiatives will seek to encourage a better safety culture and safer working environments.

Now that a Regional SAR Plan is agreed, it needs to be implemented. There is a demonstrated desire to work together to make this happen.

The IMRF will continue to work with the IMO, to identify areas of opportunity and help the regional players appropriately, including helping to source development funding and training support. In this regard we record grateful thanks to the Government of Germany for their generous contribution to this region’s SAR development.

We will help to coordinate the next Regional Meeting, which will coincide with the IMRF Trustees’ half-yearly meeting; and we have established a web-page for the Region on the IMRF site.

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

They were asked to submit a design for a 500-passenger ferry for Bangladesh, specifically for the 250km route south from Dhaka, the capital, to Barisal (‘the Venice of the East’) via Chandpur, where three major rivers come together. This river route, where the depth varies between 2.5m & 3.9m, is subject to fierce storms.

Dr Weisbrod explained: “The purpose of the design competition is to supplement efforts by affected national governments, Interferry and the IMO to reduce fatalities in developing world ferry travel. The competition addresses the most intractable cause of ferry fatalities, the quality of the vessel, with the goal of eliciting innovative design. At the same time we want to promote the fact that, as developing countries become emerging markets, their need and ability to pay for innovative affordable safe design increases.” page 7

LIFE LINE

Day of the Seafarer 2013 This year’s ‘Day of the Seafarer’ was celebrated on 25 June. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, noted that: “The effectiveness of the modern, global economy depends on the largescale transport of cargo between locations all over the world. The only effective way to carry the vast majority of those goods is by sea. The maritime transport industry is, therefore, central to the livelihoods of billions of people; and the maritime transport industry, in turn, relies on seafarers. Without them, international trade would simply grind to a halt.

“On the Day of the Seafarer, I urge everyone to spare a thought for those courageous seafarers, men and women from all corners of the world, who face danger and tough working conditions to operate today's complex, highly technical ships, every hour of every day of the year – and on whom we all depend.”

August 2013

A New Lifeboat 11 July was a day of mixed emotions for our Chairman, Michael Vlasto. The day before he retired from his ‘day job’ as Operations Director of the RNLI (see page 1), he attended his last naming ceremony, to accept the first of the new Shannon class of lifeboat on behalf of the Institution. But it was also, as he told a large audience under a brilliant summer sky, a proud moment for everyone involved in the craft’s development, for she realises the RNLI’s aim of a full 25-knot all-weather fleet.

“Our volunteers,” said Michael, “expect a lot of our lifeboats these days, and rightly so. We gave our Engineering and Supply Team a long list of requirements before they got anywhere near the drawing board. Crews have been involved in every step of the Shannon’s development, from waterjet testing to prototype trials, and that’s how they’ve ended up with the right boat.

“When I joined the RNLI, I was visiting crews with 8 knot lifeboats. This lifeboat is three times as fast, and she is infinitely more manoeuvrable. She’s our first ever allweather lifeboat to be powered by waterjets, which also means she is safer to operate in shallows, and less likely to sustain damage during the launch and recovery process.

The IMRF is happy and proud to support the Day of the Seafarer. Our member organisations – the providers of maritime SAR services – help those who get into trouble at sea. This includes professional seafarers from time to time. But the IMRF would also like to highlight the fact that seafarers are part of the global SAR plan too.

Deep-sea, or in sparsely-populated or the poorer parts of the world where there are no dedicated units, it is only passing shipping that can carry out maritime SAR work.

Where there are no lifeboats or rescue helicopters, or where such units cannot get to the scene of distress quickly enough, it is the seafarers on nearby ships who must respond; to search, and to rescue.

This can be difficult and sometimes dangerous work.

Seafarers have always tried to help others in distress if they can: a tradition now enshrined in international law.

But that should never mean that is taken for granted.

Involvement in SAR may cost a shipping company significant amounts of money, disrupting schedules etc.

It naturally increases the stresses on the ships’ crews themselves, knowing that lives may depend on them alone. It may add to the risks they face. Yet still they respond when called upon.

Helping those in distress is an ancient tradition of the sea. The IMRF is proud to play our part in it. And we take this opportunity to salute our colleagues, the professional seafarers who work alongside us to help save lives. On the Day of the Seafarer, the IMRF joined in saying thank you, and well done. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

The first Shannon, newly named Jock and Annie Slater, uses her waterjets to perform the ‘Slater Pirouette’

“Inside the wheelhouse, the Shannon is equipped with a cutting-edge Systems and Information Management System. This solid state technology means our crews can stay in the safety and comfort of their seats and still have many of the lifeboat’s controls at their fingertips. That is especially useful in rough weather. The impact of a large wave on a lifeboat can put real stress on a crew member’s body but the Shannon’s shock-mitigating seats really reduce the risk of injury.

“Thanks to a specially-designed tractor and carriage, she can be launched and recovered from an open beach without the need for a slipway or harbour. On return from an incident, she can be recovered bow-first from a beach, rotated on the carriage turntable and made ready for action again within minutes. And in the event of a capsize, the lifeboat will self-right.

“So that’s a lot of impressive technology, and with good reason. The focus for each and every component is the effective saving of lives and keeping our crews safe.” page 8

LIFE LINE

August 2013

Exchanging Crews Got a crew you’d like to swap...?

In last February’s edition of LIFE LINE we reported on the very successful pilot of the IMRF European Region’s Lifeboat Crew Exchange Programme. “It was a fabulous week with many impressions and lots of new friends....” “What an amazing and fulfilling experience...!”

These were typical comments from those who took part.

Now we are delighted to announce that the continuing programme has won funding from the European Union.

Linde Jelsma, of the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), and the exchange project coordinator, reports that “the Leonardo Da Vinci fund gave us 94 out of 100 points – which means that all nine participating countries will be funded from a total of €141,500, spread over 2 years. We are all very excited and happy!”

The Leonardo da Vinci Fund is a European Community programme which supports national training strategies by funding a range of transnational partnership projects aimed at improving quality, fostering innovation and promoting the European dimension in vocational training.

Participating organisations had to pay their own costs during the pilot, but Linde’s hard work (and successful form-filling by the applicants!) means that this year the exchange should be almost cost-free. The aims are to share experience and to improve capabilities. The countries involved are the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, and the UK. Two coxswains from Canada and one from New Zealand are also hoping to join in.

And there’s a rumour that the IMRF’s Bruce Reid will get his feet wet too!

As well as the wonderful experience and the lasting friendships that resulted, last year’s participants noted that the programme made them feel valued within their own organisations, and that the exchange was a great learning curve. Crews could see how others have different methods of doing things, which opened their eyes to new possibilities.

And managers in the participating organisations said what a pleasure it was to be able to give something so valuable back to the volunteer crews who themselves give so much to SAR. For more, check out the crew exchange programme’s Facebook page http://on.fb.me/13iMs2S and the IMRF website. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

News from the South Pacific Trustee Brooke Archbold represented the IMRF at a fiveday regional SAR workshop held in Suva, Fiji, in June, attended by over 70 people. The workshop was organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with the IMO and Fijian authorities. It included a SAR demonstration by the Fijian Navy and a mass rescue operation simulation game that has been developed by the United States Coast Guard (pictured).

Delegates committed to accelerate acceptance of a regional approach to SAR cooperation among 24 Pacific Island countries and territories.

The SPC is coordinating this development, supported by SAR authorities in New Zealand, Australia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and the United States.

Delegates agreed the importance of enacting SAR legislation and developing effective national SAR plans, and that these plans must include mass rescue operations given the surge of cruise ship and air traffic in the region.

Recognising limitations in financial and human resources, the workshop encouraged participants to improve communication and planning between the bodies responsible for aviation, maritime and land SAR, and to examine the benefits of establishing a joint rescue coordination centre.

Concerns were expressed about the number of SAR incidents in the region that could have been easily prevented, many of which resulted in loss of life.

Delegates agreed that more needs to be done to strengthen safety at sea, particularly with regard to the operation of traditional craft. Those responsible were urged to ensure that vessels have some communication tools onboard, including low-tech solutions such as radar reflectors, signal mirrors, SAR ribbons, retro-reflective tape and high-visibility clothing.

“All the Nations in the region share some common issues and difficulties in terms of managing marine SAR,” says Brooke. “The culture is marine-based, but small populations are dispersed through enormous ocean areas in remote locations. Budgets are limited, and so are SAR resources.”

The IMRF will continue to do what it can to support the SPC and the IMO’s integrated Technical Cooperation Programme for the Pacific. The next regional SAR workshop will be held in 2015. page 9

LIFE LINE

August 2013

The Usizame Project

Changes at the IMO

The project team write:

In our February 2013 edition we explained the changes proposed for the Sub-Committee structure of the International Maritime Organization – the IMO; the UN agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

18 July was the first anniversary of the sinking of mv Skagit near Zanzibar. Skagit was the second ferry to sink in this area in a year, and brought the estimated death toll for both incidents to over 2,000. This was the disaster that made a group of us – and, we hope, you too – say “never again”. So Usizame (Kiswahili for 'don't drown') was born. Thanks to all who have signed up for updates on the initiative. On this anniversary we want to commemorate the dead and tell you about progress.

Usizame will be speaking this October at the Interferry conference in Malta, Europe. This is the biggest ferry regulation and safety conference in the world, and we will be using the opportunity to spread the word about our ideas for making ferry travel in Tanzania safer. We’re hoping to access funding and expertise through this event that will allow us to make Usizame a full reality.

In the run-up to this event, we are working hard to have a prototype for demonstration. Allen Machary and John Francis Mukulu from the University of Dar Es Salaam form our coding team, working with Mrusha Jones, a mobile technology expert, translator Hassan Khamis and the Zanzibar Welfare Association.

Founders Mbwana Alliy, a Tanzanian working in venture capital and tech start-ups, and Rachel Hamada, a journalist who lost family members in the Skagit disaster, continue to advise and support the project, and we hope to obtain funding for a fulltime project manager.

If you are interested in helping Usizame in any capacity, please let us know at info@usizame.org. And like our Facebook page: www. facebook.com/Usizame.

Thank you. www.international-maritime-rescue.org

explain to the commanders of ships and aircraft which may become involved in a SAR case how the system works.

In short, if you work in maritime SAR, the IMO has a big effect on what you do and how you do it, even if you’ve never even seen a copy of the IAMSAR Manual.*

Like most of us these days, the IMO needs to save money. One of the ways in which it will be doing so is to reduce the number of its technical Sub-Committees from nine to seven.

The Sub-Committees typically meet for a week each year, and report to the Maritime Safety Committee and the Marine Environment Protection Committee, which are together responsible for the international maritime agreements intended to ensure the protection of the sea and those who use it.

But if you’re a lifeboat or rescue helicopter crew member, say, why should this re-structuring bother you? Isn’t it all just UN bureaucracy, affecting only big ships and government administrators? What’s it got to do with you?

Well, the various IMO regulations and agreements, including the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and, of course, the SAR Convention, have a great deal to say about maritime emergency response. States signing up to SOLAS commit their ships’ masters to responding to distress calls, for example; and States ratifying the SAR Convention agree, among other things that they “shall, as they are able to do so individually or in cooperation with other States [...] participate in the development of search and rescue services...”

And the IMO is also responsible, together with another UN body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), for the International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual, the three volumes of which help States to set up and run SAR services, and

IMO Headquarters, London

The IMRF’s concern about the proposed new technical SubCommittee structure was explained in the February LIFE LINE. We feared that the IMO’s initial proposal to remove the consideration of SAR from the Sub-Committee structure altogether would send the wrong signal, suggesting that improving global SAR was of a lower priority than the IMO’s other work.

After discussions in which the IMRF played a full part, that concern has now been allayed. From next year, SAR will be considered with communications and safety of navigation issues by the new SubCommittee on Navigation, Communications, Search and Rescue (NCSR).

A bit of a mouthful, but an important connection of inter-related subjects!

The other six Sub-Committees will be: o Implementation of IMO Instruments (III) o Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping (HTW) o Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) o Transport of Cargoes (TOC) o Ship Design and Construction (SDC) o Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) And the important ICAO / IMO Joint Working Group on SAR will also continue its detailed work in NCSR’s support. So: good news from the top! * If you would like a copy of IAMSAR, there’s a Member’s 20% discount at the IMRF Bookshop! See page 12. page 10

LIFE LINE

August 2013

European Regional Development Meeting – Estonia

All were taken into Kinsale harbour, where they were assessed by medical teams from Cork University Hospital, deployed as part of the shoreside major incident response.

From Ene Kalmus, Chairman of the Board of the Estonian Voluntary Maritime Rescue Organisation:

The next IMRF European Regional Development meeting, scheduled for 19 October, will follow the Estonian Maritime Rescue Conference, to be th held in Tallinn on the 18 .

Representatives of the Estonian Parliament and Ministry of the Interior will join Estonian SAR organisations to discuss maritime rescue and State response structures. IMRF officers, including CEO Bruce Reid, will speak on IMRF goals, activities and projects. Other international partners will also give presentations.

Jori Nordström, from Finland, will talk about training systems and cooperation with State structures.

IMRF Trustee Rolf Westerström, of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, will speak on cooperation with private enterprises and local people. Stein Solberg, of the Norwegian Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at Stavanger, will address command and control issues. And IMRF Trustee Jorge Diena will speak about the differences in voluntary maritime rescue in South America.

The IMRF Regional Meeting the next day will discuss IMRF matters and regional initiatives. It will also include a visit to the Viimsa Voluntary Marine Rescue Society station, established in 2010 by a commercial RIB operator, watersport.ee, after their craft had become involved in a number of SAR operations.

Major Emergency on the Irish Coast Four RNLI lifeboats launched, two Irish Coast Guard helicopters scrambled and Coast Guard and other shore units responded when the 42-metre Dutch training vessel Astrid struck rocks near Kinsale on 24 July, following an engine failure.

All 30 people on board – 7 crew and 23 teenage trainees – were recovered safely after a major incident response coordinated by the Dublin Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.

Courtmacsherry RNLI Coxswain Sean O’Farrell said, “Everyone was very fortunate. I want to praise the quick thinking of the skipper and the crew from the Astrid. They kept calm and did everything we asked them to do. We were able to get them to safety quickly and a major tragedy was averted.

The RNLI Kinsale Atlantic 75 lifeboat transferred all the sinking brig’s crew onto the Courtmacsherry all-weather lifeboat (a 14metre Trent class) and a local vessel, Spirit of Oysterhaven, which, like Astrid, had been taking part in a ‘parade of sail’.

When Astrid’s engine failed, her skipper notified other vessels in the flotilla and tried to make sail. But strong southerly winds drove the 95year-old brig quickly ashore, under cliffs and among rocks. A two-metre swell was running. Grounding, and working on the rock, she began to take water. The other vessels nearby could not establish a tow, and Astrid put out a Mayday call.

The Kinsale lifeboat was first on scene, and put a crewmember on board. Twelve people were towed by the lifeboat to Spirit of Oysterhaven aboard a liferaft launched by Astrid.

The other 18 were transferred to the Courtmacsherry lifeboat by the Atlantic 75.

www.international-maritime-rescue.org

The Ballycotton Trent class and Crosshaven Atlantic 75 RNLI lifeboats were also launched in case of need, and Irish Coast Guard helicopters from Waterford and Shannon were sent to the scene along with ambulances and other emergency responders.

Courtmacsherry and Kinsale lifeboats on scene (photos courtesy RNLI)

“To be able to recover thirty people was a great day for everyone involved. It was a great team effort between the RNLI lifeboats and all the vessels that came to their aid.”

Clearly an excellent response all round – including by those who stood by in case a difficult situation became even worse.

For video footage of the incident visit: http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/0724/46 4385-tall-ship-astrid/.

(LIFE LINE does not use hyperlinks, for system security reasons: please cut & paste the link above into a search engine.)

page 11

LIFE LINE

August 2013

Welcome

IMRF Trustee Honoured

In the first of an occasional series in LIFE LINE, we would like to extend a warm welcome to the new IMRF Members listed below, all of whom have joined us in the last six months or so. (In the more recent cases, formal IMRF Board approval of the applications is awaited.)

As a Full Member: o

Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association

As Affiliate Members: o

Emergency Response and Rescue Corps, Malta

o

Life Saving Association of Sri Lanka

o

Maritime Institute & Ports Administration, Cape Verde

o

Mauritania MRCC

o

Royal Life Saving Society, Uganda

o

The Gambia Navy

As Associate Members: o

Bjorgvins Rescue Belt Ltd

o

Marine Search And Rescue Ltd

o

Titan Maritime LLC

IMRF Trustee Capt Song Jiahui has been re-elected as President of the China Diving and Salvage Contractors’ Association (CDSCA).

Prior to his being appointed as the Ministry of Transport’s Chief Safety Superintendent, Jiahui was director of IMRF Member China Rescue and Salvage, the Government’s maritime emergency response organisation.

He notes that his re-election will enable the CDSCA to develop closer ties with the IMRF – and that he will continue to work to improve lifesaving at sea internationally.

Savings at the IMRF Bookshop!

We are also pleased to add several individual supporters to our ranks. Thank you – and welcome aboard, everyone!

There’s more information about IMRF membership at www.international-maritime-rescue.org, as well as in the October 2012 edition of LIFE LINE, which you can download from the website for free: look in the Archive under the ‘newsletter’ tab.

If your own organisation isn’t an IMRF Member and you think they ought to be, or if you would like to propose a partner organisation for membership – or if you would like to become an individual supporter yourself! – please get in touch with the IMRF Membership Secretary, Ann Laing, at a.laing@imrf.org.uk. She’ll be very happy to help you.

Remember that one of the many benefits of IMRF Membership is the ability to buy any IMO publication through the IMRF bookshop at a saving of 20%!!

The recently published 2013 edition of the International Aeronautical & Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual, for example, will cost you £25 less if you buy from us – that’s nearly €30 or US$40.

Our online bookshop portal will be ready soon. In the meantime you can order using the form on the IMRF website.

Hurry to www.internationalmaritime-rescue.org!

And finally...

We hope that you have found this issue of LIFE LINE informative and interesting. We know that there is much more going on among IMRF’s membership that could be reported here, to the benefit of all – but we rely on you, the reader, to tell us about it! LIFE LINE and the IMRF website need 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@imrf.org.uk Let’s spread the word, for the benefit of all at risk on the world’s waters.

LIFE LINE www.international-maritime-rescue.org

page 12