lifeline april 2015 - english

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 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

LLIIFFEE LLIINNEE

The Newsletter of the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF)

News… Experience… Ideas… Information… Development…

In this issue:

the huge SAR challenges presented by unsafe mixed migration by sea

more on the World Maritime Rescue Congress coming up in June

news from Sweden, Ireland, Iceland, Estonia, Indonesia, China & Sri Lanka

and more!

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Disaster in the Mediterranean

More than 3000 people died in the Mediterranean in 2014. They were not passengers on cruise ships or airliners, who

we would hear more about. They were people the authorities call ‘mixed migrants’, meaning that, at least while they

were out there on the water, their legal status was uncertain. But they were trying to escape war, abuse, poverty. They

were the unlucky ones: more than 200,000 others were rescued. It’s a risk ratio that more and more desperate people

are willing to chance.

The picture above is, perhaps, symbolic: throwing bottles of water across a gap – a gap in SAR capability, a gap in

international policy. “The current search and rescue system,” says Koji Sekimizu, Secretary-General of the International

Maritime Organization, “Is not designed for this scale of mass rescue.” Some see a threat to the very principles of

maritime SAR. Mr Sekimizu is determined to address the problem. The IMRF supports his efforts. See page 6.

photo

photo courtesy Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS)

LLIIFFEE LLIINNEE AApprriill 22001155

www.international-maritime-rescue.org page 2

Editorial

Welcome to the latest edition of your newsletter.

The IMRF Secretariat are now fully engaged, with

a small band of enthusiastic helpers, on the

detailed planning for the World Maritime Rescue

Congress in June, and the SAR exhibition and

IMRF Quadrennial General Meeting that

accompany it.

We very much hope to see you there. You can

read more about it on pages 3 & 4 – and do not

miss our CEO’s summary of the IMRF’s strategy

for the next four years on page 5. Discussion of

this strategy will be one of the key parts of the

QGM. If you are in an IMRF Member organisation

it really is important that you attend and have

your say on what we should be doing next. And if

yours is a Full Member organisation, it is vital that

you are formally represented at the QGM so that

you can vote on the revised IMRF constitution

and elect the Board of Trustees who will guide us

through to 2019!

You can find much more on this on the IMRF

website, at

www.international-maritime-

rescue.org/index.php/homewmrc

Or, if you have questions, please contact us at

[email protected] or on +44 (0)1569 767405.

*

There’s a great deal more in this edition of LIFE

LINE than Congress & QGM, though, important

though they are, for the main work of the IMRF

has not stopped!

As usual there are articles about our Members’

activities from around the world, and there are

reports from our Asia-Pacific Regional Centre and

on our work at and with the IMO.

The latter includes our engagement on what is

clearly one of the most important SAR issues of

modern times – the response to unsafe mixed

migration by sea. Thousands of people are dying.

This must be addressed by the

international community. And

you can be sure that the IMRF

will play its part. See page 6.

Dave Jardine-Smith

[email protected]

Contents

Disaster in the Mediterranean ... 1

Editorial ................................ 2

Dates for the Diary ................................ 2

The World Maritime Rescue Congress ... 3

IMRF’s Quadrennial General Meeting ... 4

The IMRF in the next quadrennium ... 5

Busy year planned in Asia-Pacific ... 5

Migrants in distress at sea: time to act ... 6

A survivor’s view .................. 7

Saving lives through education ... 8

ICE-SAR ................................ 9

News from Estonia ................................ 10

A SAR plan for East Asia .................. 10

McMurdo Group partners the IMRF ... 11

NCSR2 ................................ 11

Sunbird ................................ 12

Keep in touch! ................................ 12

Radios at last ................................ 12

Send us your news & pictures ... 12

Dates for the Diary

SAR Europe Portsmouth, UK 21-23 April 2015

For details, see www.searchandrescueeurope.com

Australia and New Zealand SAR Conference

Jupiters Gold Coast, Australia 6 May 2015

For details, see sar.anzdmc.com.au

World Maritime Rescue Congress

Bremerhaven, Germany 1-4 June 2015

IMRF’s global congress and quadrennial general meeting: see page 3

IMRF Regional Mass Rescue Operations Workshop

Singapore 19-21 August 2015 For details, email [email protected]

International Civil Aviation Organization / International

Maritime Organization Joint Working Group on SAR

Trenton, Ontario, Canada 14-18 September 2015

For details, contact [email protected]

If you are planning a SAR event of international interest which you would

like to see listed here, please send the details to [email protected]



Subject-matter experts, managers,

coordinators, rescue unit crews and

other professionals from the

maritime SAR community around the

world will be discussing issues

ranging from migrants, social media

and training to unmanned systems,

funding, casualty care and

organisational development at the

World Maritime Rescue Congress

in Germany in June.

This major event, to be held from 1

to 3 June 2015 at the Atlantic Hotel

Sail City, magnificently situated

beside the River Weser in the centre

of the old port city of Bremerhaven,

will be hosted by the German

Maritime Search and Rescue Service

(DGzRS), and is a must for maritime

organisations involved, or likely to

become involved, in SAR on the

world's waters.

Organised by the IMRF, which has

112 member organisations from

around the world, the Congress is

held every four years. The last one,

in Shanghai, China, in 2011, was a

great success. The Bremerhaven

Congress is expected to be just as

good, and the biggest yet with 60

presenters and 16 workshops

planned, together with a major SAR

exhibition and other events linked to

the celebrations of the DGzRS’s 150th

anniversary.

The Congress will be followed, on 3-4

June, by the IMRF’s Quadrennial

General Meeting which all Congress

delegates are very welcome to

attend – see page 4. Altogether, you

won’t want to miss these four days!

The World Maritime

Rescue Congress 2015

Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-

General Emeritus of the IMO and

IMRF Patron; Paul Boissier, Chief

Executive of the UK and Ireland’s

Royal National Lifeboat Institution;

and Martin Xuereb of the Migrant

Offshore Aid Station will be keynote

speakers at the 2015 Congress.

There will also be plenary

presentations on issues of central

importance to the IMRF over the last

four years and a look at the

challenges ahead.

The majority of the Congress,

however, will be given over to

workshops, running in three parallel

work-streams for delegates to

choose from: SAR organisation &

management; SAR coordination; and

SAR operations. The talks planned

under each heading are listed here.

- SAR organisation & management -

A ‘prevention’ workshop will include

talks entitled:

o To significantly impact the global

drowning figures, do we need to look

beyond just rescue organisations?

o Water safety training for children

o The application of risk

identification and black spot

models which target specific

behaviours that place people at

risk and high risk locations; and

o Boating education

A ‘development’ workshop will

consider:

o Ferry safety in the developing

world

o From a charity to a social business

o Is there a more effective structure

to deliver SAR than the traditional

departmental approach?

o Creating a 200-year-old start-up;

and

o Quick response to maritime and

riverine emergencies in Brazil

There will be a Fundraising and

budget allocation workshop,

including talks on:

o Is it possible to cut 15% of

revenue costs in 2 years and

deliver a better service?

o Governmental & non-

governmental model of funding

SAR service support

o How growing support from the

public has strengthened the

Swedish Sea Rescue Society’s role

in society; and

o Publicity and storytelling: the

power of stories, pictures and

social media to build under-

standing and support

And an ‘organisational culture’

workshop will consider:

o Building an organisational

culture

o Leadership and innovation in

high-risk teams

o In harm’s way: volunteers in

rescue service organisations; and

o Safety: get on board

- SAR coordination -

This work-stream begins with a

‘mass rescue operations’ (MRO)

workshop:

o The IMRF’s MRO project

o Unconventional solutions in

improving MROs: the Pella incident

o Prioritising operational procedures

in MROs

o Cooperation in MROs: the role of

the Local Incident Coordinator

o The importance of process-

optimised communication in

complex incidents; and

o The FIRST mass rescue project

A ‘databases’ workshop will look at:

o An international SAR portal

o Data on the high rate of death

due to drowning in Africa

o Modelling maritime casualty

investigation; and

o Surtsey: an open source for

projects, ideas and innovations

(continued on page 4)



(continued from page 3)

A ‘special cases’ workshop will

examine:

o An International Committee of

the Red Cross Commentary on

Article 27 of the 1949 Second

Geneva Convention

o Treaty provisions in times of

conflict – a SAR view

o Migration and loss of life at sea; and

o The ‘mixed migration’ problem

And a ‘communications’ workshop:

o The evolution of SAR in the

maritime world

o MEOSAR and second generation

beacons

o A close scrutiny of the global

maritime distress system

o Communication issues related to

SAR for MRCCs and provision of

SAR-related information to ships

o SAR operations: requirements in

the Global Navigation Satellite

System; and

o Crisis communication manage-

ment in the world of social media

- SAR operations -

This work-stream has an ‘unmanned

systems’ workshop:

o How might a SAR organization

benefit from using a system where

a central operator could remotely

launch and control small aircraft?

o Role of an unmanned aircraft

system in SAR operations; and

o Use of unmanned aircraft systems

in sea rescues

A ‘decision-making’ workshop will

consider:

o Research results: decision making

in maritime SAR; and

o Vessel triage: a new method to

enhance situational awareness

A ‘training’ workshop will include:

o An R&D project: ‘Maritime

Simulators Network’

o The use of simulators in training

of lifeboat crews and onshore staff

o Managing the risks of high speed

navigation during SAR operations

o Drills versus reality: stress

exposure training

o Training for rescue and recovery

in low cost and low technology

environments

o The IMRF crew exchange project

o A resuscitation course for rescue

craft crews; and

o An intuitive first-aid assistance

application for mobile devices

This leads into a ‘casualty care’

workshop considering:

o What happens during drowning

and how does this affect

resuscitation

o Development of an integrated

approach to Casualty (Patient)

Care; and

o Medical support by SAR crew,

strategic considerations

Finally, there are presentations on:

o KNRM Helps: an innovative

mobile app to help keep boaters

safe

o Responding to floods in low-

income countries: the development

of training materials for rescue and

humanitarian organisations

o The experience from a liferaft

exercise

o Mitigating the effects of Whole

Body Vibration on RNLI Lifeboats;

and

o China Rescue & Salvage - a well-

established trinity of response to

major marine incidents

The only real difficulty lies in

choosing between these fascinating

and varied talks and workshops!

If you haven’t already registered for

the Congress, do so now at:

www.international-maritime-

rescue.org/index.php/homewmrc

The IMRF’s Quadrennial

General Meeting

The World Maritime Rescue

Congress (see page 3) is also when

IMRF members gather for our

Quadrennial General Meeting, to

discuss progress over the last four

years and to plan for the next four.

If you are an IMRF Member, this is

your opportunity to have your say

on what we do next.

Everyone is welcome to attend the

QGM, and all IMRF Members are

encouraged to contribute to the

debate. As well as discussing our

strategy for the next four years and

beyond (see Bruce Reid’s article on

page 5), the QGM is also the place

where the IMRF conducts its most

important administrative business.

In 2015 this includes the proposed

adoption of revised Articles of

Association, and the election of a

new Board of Trustees. (For more

information, see www.international-

maritime-rescue.org, including the

February edition of LIFE LINE, in the

newsletter archive.)

It is particularly important that our

Full Members should read and

respond to the QGM paperwork

which has been distributed to them,

and which is also available on the

website. It is our Full Members who

are entitled to vote on IMRF

business, including the revised

Articles and for the Board who will

guide the IMRF through the next

quadrennium.

It is essential that all Full Member

organisations complete and return

a ‘Member’s Representative Auth-

orisation’ form before the QGM

begins. If you are your organisation’s

IMRF contact, please don’t forget!

And if you have any questions about

the QGM, the paperwork or your

membership status, please email

[email protected] without delay!



The IMRF in the next

quadrennium

As promised in our last edition, IMRF Chief

Executive Bruce Reid here introduces the

draft strategy for the Federation’s next

few years.

I wrote in February (see the newsletter

archive at www.international-maritime-

rescue.org), that the IMRF is an

evolving organisation, very different

to what it was when this

quadrennium began, in Shanghai in

2011. Together, we have achieved a

very great deal. But I also noted the

significant challenges that remain.

Over the last year our Trustees have

conducted a challenging and funda-

mental review, seeking to define

exactly what the IMRF should aim to

achieve and how it goes about that

task: our vision, purpose and strategy.

The new Board to be elected at this

year’s QGM (see page 4) should be

given a clear agenda to work on.

A strategic plan will be circulated to

our Members in the coming weeks to

allow QGM attendees to absorb the

direction and strategic approach

recommended by the current

Trustees.

It is important to note that the vision

and purpose of the IMRF have not

changed. We continue to seek to

prevent loss of life on the world’s

waters, to promote safety and to

provide relief from disaster

throughout the world by:

o promoting cooperation, exchange

of information, research and

development, advice and consult-

ancy between the maritime SAR

services of the world;

o encouraging and promoting the

formation and development of

maritime SAR services throughout

the world; and

o promoting public education and

awareness regarding safety on

water.

What will change is how we go about

achieving these vital objectives.

We believe that the most effective

way to achieve our vision is to focus

on our core area of skill: maritime

search and rescue. We can achieve

our aims through a combination of

policy influence and SAR capacity

building, supported by a high quality

knowledge database and by

prevention initiatives.

To do this the new strategy will be

supported by “five pillars”:

Increased representation, advocacy

and influence

Support and development for our

members and the global maritime SAR

community

Sustainable funding

Commercial consultancy services

on maritime SAR, helping global and

regional organisations, States and

maritime SAR organisations to design,

equip and test maritime SAR solutions

provided where possible through IMRF

members.

An effective IMRF with structures

that will support the development

and growth laid out in this strategy.

The plan is to align the increased

activity of the IMRF with a structured

strategy, prioritising the key work

flows and building resource to deliver

more to our members and the

maritime SAR community worldwide.

The IMRF has a unique position in the

world of maritime SAR, unhampered

by borders or politics. There is now an

opportunity to influence and drive

positive change to make the world’s

waters safer. The greater the support

we can generate from and for SAR

organisations the more effective we

will be.

Together, we are stronger.

Busy year planned for

IMRF in Asia-Pacific

The Trustees for the IMRF’s Asia

Pacific Regional Centre have

approved an ambitious work plan

for the next 12 months.

“After completing registration last

year we are now looking to build

maritime SAR support activity in

the Region,” says Captain Song

Jaihui, APRC Chairman. “The plan

will bring together many of the

SAR organisations in the Asia-

Pacific region for workshops and

combined training, delivering on

the APRC commitment made at

last year’s regional meeting.”

The year is off to a busy start with

the IMRF participating in an IMO

Regional Development meeting in

Indonesia (see page 10) and CEO

Bruce Reid giving a presentation

at the Association of South East

Asian Nations (ASEAN) Maritime

SAR Forum in Singapore. These

events provided opportunities to

discuss with senior maritime SAR

officials the type of support the

APRC can provide. Two themes

came through in particular:

preparedness for mass rescue

operations (MRO), and maritime

SAR management, administration

and coordination training.

The APRC is already advancing

three MRO workshops, with the

Philippines Coast Guard offering

to host an “in country” workshop,

and regional workshops in

Singapore in August and in China

in the last quarter of 2015. Add to

this up to three SAR training

courses and a regional develop-

ment meeting. The IMRF is

working hard in the region!

For more information on the MRO

workshops contact Mr Gu Yiming

– [email protected] – and for

SAR training Ms Qiu Jing:

[email protected].



Migrants in distress at sea: time to act

The IMRF has the mission of "preventing loss of life in the

world's waters". One of our principal concerns at the

moment is the pressing need to introduce more effective

SAR services to save the lives of the increasing number of

migrants in distress at sea. The immediate cause of these

incidents is unsafe and overloaded vessels and failure to

follow conventional safety procedures. The underlying

causes are increases in pressures that lead to migration –

it is said that one in seven people in the world is a migrant

– and the tactics adopted by callous smugglers, who are

essentially placing thousands of people in distress,

knowing that international law requires their rescue.

The IMRF recently made representations at a special

inter-agency meeting on the implications of unsafe mixed

migration by sea, hosted by the International Maritime

Organization (IMO). Our key points were:

Over 3000 lives were lost in 2014 – a figure that could

have been much higher – and 200,000 people in

distress were rescued by Governmental and non-

Governmental SAR organisations and merchant ships

Indications are that the number needing to be rescued

will escalate: the risks are apparently seen to be

acceptable to people desperate to migrate

Governmental funding of SAR services has reduced,

meaning that merchant ships had to save 42,000

people during 254 rescues in 2014

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at

Sea (SOLAS) and the International Convention on

Maritime SAR are not being honoured sufficiently: this

is of major concern to all IMRF members

Ships’ masters are required by SOLAS to rescue people

in distress if they can, yet people are deliberately

being placed in a position of distress, to trigger a

rescue response: this obviously places ships’ masters

in an invidious position

The current pressure on merchant vessels – vital SAR

facilities where there are no, or not enough dedicated

SAR units – is unsustainable and coastal States, and

States responsible for SAR in the regions where

migration takes place, must do much more to help

SOLAS and the SAR Convention place clear

responsibilities on coastal States; in particular the

State responsible for the SAR Region in which the

rescue is carried out

The unsafe mixed migration issue can only be

addressed ashore, at State and international level –

SAR services and merchant ships are caught in a

problem they cannot solve alone.

Referring to the inter-agency meeting in his opening

address to the Navigation, Communications and SAR

Sub-Committee at the IMO in March (see page 11),

Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu said: “The situation in

the Mediterranean is really worrying. If the rate of

growth was to follow the ratio from 2013 to 2014, this

year we would face 400,000 to 450,000 migrants calling

for rescue at sea. The current system is not designed for

that scale of mass rescue. Without additional measures,

ships cannot cope.”

The relevant UN agencies have agreed to establish a new

mechanism to address the issue; not duplicating the

efforts and functions of the UN’s Global Migration

Group, but complementing its work. The target areas are

the maritime phase of migration, aiming to:

o create a database on migrant smugglers;

o create an information sharing system for sea

migration incidents; and

o prepare information materials on the danger and

risks of unseaworthy sea passages, to be circulated

among migrant populations.

“The United Nations alone cannot solve the problem,”

said Mr Sekimizu. “The key is willingness and actions to

be taken by Governments,” coordinated by the IMO. “I

will raise this issue with IMO Member Governments with

a view to considering with them what can and should be

done by IMO – in particular, those issues falling within

the responsibility of this Organization, such as

preparation of necessary manuals and guidelines for the

shipping industry in dealing with mass rescue operations,

a common understanding of the definition of persons in

distress, the possibility of considering a better system to

ensure predictable disembarkation places, the cost to

the shipping industry, the legal aspects of mass rescue of

migrants, etc.”

It is abundantly clear that international bodies need to

work together with their member States to address

these issues positively and urgently. We must have:

Prompt and predictable disembarkation procedures

Consistency on what amounts to ‘distress’

Reinforcement of the existing obligations to rescue

people in distress at sea – especially State obligations

Proper management of migration, to tackle the black

market for 'people smuggling'

Increased support for coastal States who are

struggling with the numbers involved

Shared information, including vessel tracking.

The IMRF will continue to contribute to this work as and

when it falls within our remit to do so.

See also ‘MOAS launches urgent fundraising appeal’ on

www.international-maritime-rescue.org.



it easier to orientate to the horizon. The amount of

water in the SOLAS pack was more than adequate to

maintain healthy hydration levels for the 30 hours.

o Collision with larger vessels. Due to wind, wave and

current direction, the raft was anchored. This was to

prevent drifting through the heavily trafficked shipping

lanes between the West coast of Sweden and Denmark.

o Difficulty relieving oneself. Since this was not a real

life-threatening situation the participants tried to

maintain their personal hygiene by not urinating in the

suits, instead relieving themselves over the side of the

raft or in the baling container. Most were successful but

others had difficulty relaxing due to closeness with other

people and the motion of the ocean. This caused quite a

bit of discomfort and pain, even forcing one participant

to leave the exercise prematurely.

o Cramped conditions onboard. The lack of available

space for each person was surprising even to those who

have experienced life rafts before. All 11 participants

were piled together will the equipment making

movement extremely difficult. Every time someone had

to move, it required coordination and team effort. The

experiences of the claustrophobic conditions were

perhaps the biggest “take away” from the exercise. The

perception that the life raft cannot fit the amount of

people stated can perhaps be extrapolated to larger

survival craft. These vessels feel too small before they

are even filled to capacity.

The keys to success were teamwork, leadership and

positive attitude. It was impossible to duplicate the

psychological stress of a real emergency situation and

not knowing if one was going to be rescued at all. So a

positive attitude and lust for life was easily maintained

throughout the duration of the exercise. The leadership

onboard the raft was essential for the crew´s well-being.

By assigning tasks such as watch shifts and bailing water,

a sense of purpose was reinforced in every individual

that also strengthened the team feeling.

After 30 hours onboard the raft in various conditions,

half the crew was “rescued” by the Swedish Maritime

Administration SAR helicopter and the other half by the

Swedish Sea Rescue Society´s lifeboats, demonstrating

multi-unit cooperation and coordinated efforts.

A Survivor’s View experiences from a two-day life raft exercise

Matthew Fader of IMRF Members the Swedish Sea

Rescue Society (SSRS) writes:

Last May, the SSRS, together with Chalmers Institute of

Technology’s Maritime Human Factors department,

embarked on a unique life raft exercise. The purpose was

to study a prolonged stay in a SOLAS 12-person raft by

filling it with 11 people and leaving them in the raft

offshore, dressed in immersion suits, simulating the time

for a normal rescue operation in distant waters of

approximately 24-48 hours.

A date was chosen for the exercise regardless of weather

and sea-state conditions on the day which added to the

realism. It was what it was. This varied throughout the

two day project. At the time of the life raft launch there

were sunny skies, smooth rolling seas and a gentle

breeze with an air temperature of 15 degrees Celsius and

approximately 11 degrees in the water. The following

morning was cool, 6 degrees ambient temperature, gusty

28 knot winds and violent short-period meter-high waves.

Participants selected were physically fit and had

adequate maritime safety training. The most important

criterion for selection, however, was having a healthy

curiosity and a desire to experience several days in an

emergency situation so that one may apply this

knowledge when teaching others.

The test began aboard a boat sailing outside the

Gothenburg archipelago with a simulated alarm to

abandon ship. When the alarm sounded there was a

maximum of 15 minutes to be dressed in the survival

suits and be inside the life raft. The boat became the

surveillance ship for the remainder of the exercise. The

raft was then left without any external impact until the

search exercise began some 30 hours later.

There were several major concerns when the risk analysis

was performed prior to the exercise. The outcomes

varied somewhat from the original pre-conceived ideas

of what might happen.

o Dehydration related to vomiting & sea sickness. All

participants except one took the anti-motion sickness

tablets that were available in the SOLAS A-Pack as a

prophylactic after entering the raft. Surprisingly few

participants, 6 of the 11, became ill with motion sickness

to the point that they needed to vomit and all managed

to vomit outside the raft. It would have been a

completely different environment and outcome if

participants had vomited inside. The lack of precipitation

also allowed one of the canopy doors to be open, making

photo: Jeff Flindt



“Education is the most powerful weapon which you

can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela

Bulgaria examined our system a few years ago and now

have a similar system of education in place which is also

endorsed by their Government.

Each country and rescue organisation faces its own

individual challenges but any effort made at all in terms

of the advancement of education, no matter how small

or basic, will save lives. It may not be as exciting as

driving a lifeboat into the teeth of a gale in the middle of

the night to effect a rescue but it can save more lives

than that lifeboat can.

As rescue organisations we

very often take the view

that education is somebody

else’s responsibility when

in fact we should all share

that responsibility and

contribute in whatever way

we can to educate members of the public in water safety

education. Measuring the effectiveness of education is

very much long term as you slowly see the number of

drownings decline in your own countries over a period of

five to ten years. There are also opportunities for

profiling the work of your organisation and in some

countries developing income streams from this work

through fundraising.

So perhaps in the run up to our quadrennial meeting in

Bremerhaven you might consider what your organisation

can do to advance water safety education in your

country. I will be very pleased to discuss the matter with

you and help you make progress – every little effort in

education save lives.

Local boys in Galway learning at an early age the

importance of wearing a lifejacket

Can our rescue organisations do more to

save lives through education?

I certainly feel that we can, writes John Leech of Irish

Water Safety (IWS). A large part of the work in saving

lives that IWS does is through education. The simple

diagram of a drowning triangle below highlights the

greater number of lives that can we saved at the bottom

of the triangle through prevention strategies rather than

through rescue or treatment interventions.

In our rescue organisations the main focus of what we do

is obviously on rescue. Those involved as volunteers very

much enjoy the buzz of the great work that they do and

the sense of fulfilment that it brings to their own lives.

There are many countries worldwide that do not have

any structured water safety education programme for

members of the public, or indeed any programme at all. I

feel that it is good for us to look at our organisations and

see if we can spend some time and small investment in

education. Your efforts are likely to save more lives

through education than you will through rescue.

Education is a broad term and can mean a lot of things to

different rescue organisations. Here in Ireland, we have

managed to have water safety placed on the Primary

School syllabus within our Department of Education. In

time, all children who have attended school will have a

basic knowledge of drowning prevention, survival, rescue

and swimming skills. In an island nation with thousands

of rivers, lakes, canals, streams, quarries, reservoirs and

wetlands these are essential life skills that everybody

should have.

There are details of our Primary Aquatics Water Safety

Programme at www.iws.ie/education/consumer-alert-

notifications.262.html.

With our permission, organisations are very welcome to

use it or adapt it as they see fit.

(Please note that we do not use hyperlinks in LIFE LINE: some

firewalls don’t like them. To access John’s link, cut and paste

into your search engine.)



Member Focus:

ICE-SAR

Jón Svanberg Hjartarson, CEO of the

Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue

(ICE-SAR) writes:

Following frequent maritime accidents and

loss of life around Iceland the National Lifesaving

Association of Iceland was founded in 1928 with a focus

on maritime rescue. The first formal rescue team was

founded in 1918 in the Westman Islands, at that time the

largest fishing community in Iceland. The association grew

and prospered in the local villages that had

experienced first-hand the perils at sea. In 1932

the first rescue team with roots in the boy-scout

movement was founded and in 1950 after the

successful rescue of the crew and passengers

from a crashed airliner on a glacier in Iceland

the first Air Ground rescue team was founded.

From their inception rescue teams in Iceland

have been driven by the passion and initiative of

volunteers and in 1999 the three rescue

associations merged and founded ICE-SAR.

Today all rescue teams in Iceland operate under

the ICE-SAR umbrella.

The role of volunteers in SAR is well established

internationally, but Iceland has developed an

ambitious and successful model where the ICE-SAR

rescue teams deal with all aspects of search and rescue

from the bottom of the ocean to the highest peaks on land.

Iceland has a relatively small police force and coast guard,

and does not have a military, so many conventional

community services usually provided by such entities are

handled by ICE-SAR. In fact ICE-SAR is the backbone of

the civil protection system in Iceland. Harsh natural

elements and the unforgiving and destructive geological

forces in frequent seismic activities, volcanic eruptions

and floodings provide ICE-SAR with ample challenges in

addition to conventional civil protection subjects.

There are 94 ICE-SAR rescue teams, all around Iceland.

The teams vary in size and capabilities but most handle,

in one way or another, a wide range of challenges and

maritime rescue is an important part of team activities.

ICE-SAR owns and operates 13 Lifeboats, most of them

ex-RNLI Arun-class. All the Lifeboat crews are volunteers.

The ICE-SAR teams have technical authority over their

crews but the Lifeboats operate under the legal

authority of the Icelandic Coast Guard, whose own

resources consist of three patrol vessels, a fixed-wing

Bombardier Dash and three Super Puma helicopters.

ICE-SAR has played a key role in accident prevention at sea,

operating the Maritime Safety and Survival Training Centre

since 1985. Its goal is to promote safety and survival

training, and according to Icelandic law, it is mandatory

for all seafarers and fishermen to attend courses there.

The knowledge imparted by

the Centre has, among

other things, resulted in a

considerable decrease in

the number of serious

accidents and fatalities at

sea in recent years in

Iceland, declining to a

record low. In 2008, 2011

and 2014 none occurred.

That is a great achieve-

ment for a maritime nation

when compared to the

great number of people

who perish at sea globally,

according to WHO statistics.

Many Icelandic seafarers and fishermen say that they

owe their lives to the Centre and the training provided.

ICE-SAR is proud of the role the association has played.

The key to the success of the Icelandic rescue teams,

both on land and sea, is that they are “owned” and run

by the volunteers. Iceland is populated by 320,000

people: there are 4,000 ICE-SAR volunteers on roster

24/7/365. For a volunteer organisation of this size to

thrive community support is of upmost importance. In

Iceland most employers provide the ICE-SAR volunteers

with leeway, either by allowing absence on pay or

flexibility to attend to callouts. The general public is also

very conscious of the importance of ICE-SAR and is

supportive, both financially and morally.

The rescue associations that form IMRF vary in size and

function, ranging from fully volunteer to fully paid

professionals. It is my opinion that for the next four years

IMRF focus should be on the volunteers and how to

develop and grow volunteer-based SAR capabilities

worldwide. IMRF should lead such initiatives, for example

with consultation on financing and fundraising, crew

exchange programs, information exchange etc. The

opportunities are out there and we all can contribute, to

the benefit of all who use the sea.



partnership in maritime rescue. It

gives us possibilities to participate

in the development of various

strategic plans in Estonia, and to

have some state financing.

We have a busy schedule for 2015 –

seminars, at least 5 basic safety

training groups, trainer-training

courses, participation in the Tallinn

Boat Show, a maritime rescue

competition, and regional sea fairs

and festivals. Our organisation will

also be the official safety partner for

two large sailing events this year –

and we would like to participate

fully in IMRF activities too; the

World Maritime Rescue Congress in

Germany and the European regional

meeting in Åland.

Unfortunately we do not have any

regular financing yet. Only minor

funding is provided by the State for

training and equipment, therefore

we depend a lot on projects. This year

will see the completion of a small

cooperation project with Finland

and Denmark under the Nordplus

programme, and the IMRF Crew

Exchange project financed under the

Leonardo programme. We are also

eager to participate in a new

training project under Erasmus+.

Finally, we have started to prepare

a new project application to the

Central Baltic programme on devel-

opment of cooperation between

small ports and maritime rescue

organisations – and we are happy to

have a partner in this: the Åland

Island Lifeboat Society.

News from Estonia

Ene Kalmus, Chairman of the Board

of the Estonian Voluntary Maritime

Rescue Organisation, writes:

The voluntary non-governmental

umbrella organisation, Estonian

Voluntary Maritime Rescue, was

created in April 2010 in cooperation

with 6 voluntary maritime rescue

stations (Toila, Käsmu, Lohusuu,

Mustvee, Pärnu, Paatsalu) and the

Adult Training Organisation Teave.

By January 2015 we had 18

voluntary units that are able to offer

independent and fast support

services on the Baltic Sea (within 30

miles from base), on Lake Peipsi (to

the Russian border) and on inland

Lakes Saadjärve, Võrtsjärve and

Kuremaa. Altogether we have 350

volunteers. The newest member of

the organisation is the Tallinn SAR

Team, established by three local

yacht clubs in Tallinn. The Estonian

Yachting Union is also in the process

of joining the organisation, further

expanding our cooperation with the

leisure boating community.

During 2009-2013 our rescuers had

155 missions, rescued 132 people

from life threatening situations and

provided technical assistance to 458

persons. In 2014 the volunteers

responded to 42 calls and organised

over 130 different safety and

educational activities.

On 14 January we signed an

agreement with the Ministry of the

Interior as a document of official

A SAR Plan for East Asia

The International Maritime Organi-

zation (IMO) held a regional seminar

on the implementation of the Global

SAR plan in East Asia in Jakarta,

Indonesia, in February. The event

was hosted by the Indonesia SAR

Agency, BASARNAS. The IMRF were

represented at the event.

Representatives of government org-

anisations with SAR responsibility

from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,

China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos,

Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua

New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore,

Thailand, Timor Leste and Viet Nam

each gave a presentation explaining

their SAR systems and challenges.

IMO speakers explained SAR

obligations, the current state of

ratification of the SAR Convention

and the delimitation of SAR regions

in East Asia; gave updates on

GMDSS and the Cospas-Sarsat

system; and discussed SAR

cooperation, maritime awareness,

the harmonisation of aeronautical

and maritime SAR, and other

international developments.

Other speakers discussed the pros

and cons of the Joint Rescue Co-

ordination Centre (JRCC) approach;

the AirAsia crash; the ongoing

search for Malaysia Airlines’ MH370;

and the IMRF’s Mass Rescue

Operations Project.

The States represented agreed a

number of recommendations in

conclusion, including ratification of

the SAR Convention and informing

the IMO of SAR and communication

capability; establishing bilateral and

multilateral SAR agreements as

appropriate; developing training

and exercise programmes; and

requesting technical assistance as

necessary to assess existing capa-

bility and provide recommendations

for improvement, including as

regards SAR training.



McMurdo Group partners

the IMRF

McMurdo Group, the global leader

in end-to-end SAR and maritime

domain awareness solutions, has

become the first search and rescue

technologies and solutions provider

to join the IMRF as an Associate

Member. By partnering with the

IMRF and our members around the

globe, McMurdo will be able to help

develop a more cost-effective rescue

capability to meet ever-growing

challenges, especially those presented

by mass rescues at sea.

McMurdo Managing Director Justine

Heeley (seen here accepting an IMRF

plaque from Bruce Reid) says: "In 2014

alone we saw a large number of

incidents costing the lives of

thousands of people. As a business,

we share the same goal as the IMRF

and are proud to be able to

contribute to the goal of 'preventing

loss of life in the world's waters'.”

*

Our new partnership with the

McMurdo Group is an example of

the way the IMRF seeks to bring

together all aspects of the SAR

world, to everyone’s mutual benefit.

We remain just as focussed as we

have always been on the real roots

of SAR – people saving lives as best

they can, with whatever equipment

they can afford – but we need to

keep in touch with the other parts of

the SAR spectrum too.

Techno-Sciences Inc, for example, part

of the McMurdo Group, announced in

January that it had been selected by

several more governments to deploy

SAR network infrastructure solutions

and next-generation MEOSAR

(Medium Earth Orbit Search and

Rescue) systems worth nearly €5m.

When fully deployed, MEOSAR will

provide improved emergency beacon

coverage and reliability. TSi customers

now include organisations making

major MEOSAR installations around

the world.

*

Some readers will be aware that the

IMRF recently assisted McMurdo

Group and another IMRF Associate

Member, Transas (a major provider

of marine navigation and professional

training systems), with a market

research project on the potential use

of simulation in planning and

training for mass rescue operations

and other complex maritime

incidents, and for testing that

planning and training.

This project was a worked example

of one of the ‘pillars’ of the strategy

our CEO refers to on page 5: the

provision of commercial consultancy

services, both as a means of

improving maritime SAR – our

primary aim – and of generating

some income to help support the

work we do.

The IMRF Secretariat takes this

opportunity to thank those

Members who took part in the

research project. Its results are now

being considered by the principals;

and will remain confidential, as

agreed with all concerned, including

the many respondents.

The IMRF will only engage in

projects such as this when we see a

clear potential gain for SAR:

improved major incident response in

this case. The results will often be

for others to implement, as here.

NCSR 2

The International Maritime Organi-

zation (IMO) is not renowned for

giving its organs catchy titles – but

the Sub-Committee on Navigation,

Communications and Search and

Rescue (NCSR) is the highest

technical body dealing with SAR at

the international, United Nations

level. The IMRF represents the

world’s maritime SAR community

there, having IMO consultative

status – and we attended the

second meeting of the recently re-

structured Sub-Committee in March.

This session approved amendments

– several of which had been

proposed by the IMRF – to the

International Aeronautical and

Maritime Search and Rescue

(IAMSAR) Manual, the next edition

of which will be published in 2016.

IAMSAR is the central international

guidance on establishing, managing,

coordinating and carrying out SAR

services. It is important to get it right!

We will let you know when the new

edition is published. And remember

that, like any IMO publication, IMRF

Members will be able to buy it (in

hard-copy or electronic formats) at

a 20% discount through our online

bookshop, at www.international-

maritime-rescue.org.

Among a great deal of other work,

NCSR 2 also considered the ongoing

review of the Global Maritime

Distress and Safety System – the

GMDSS; something else which is

vital to SAR people’s work.

There is concern that some existing

GMDSS systems are outdated. The

IMRF is keen to ensure that, as they

are reviewed and improvements are

proposed, it must be the user who is

kept clearly in mind: the person in

distress or needing safety inform-

ation, and the person who responds

to those needs. User-friendly

communications are essential!



LLIIFFEE LLIINNEE

Keep in touch!

There are now even more ways to

keep in touch with what is

happening in the world of maritime

SAR and the activities of the IMRF.

In February we moved onto

Facebook, building our community

through regular updates including

“Flashback Fridays” when we share

the results of trawling 90 years of

archives to bring to the surface

interesting moments for SAR, the

IMRF and our predecessor, the

International Lifeboat Federation.

Our first Flashback Friday told of the

IMRF’s humble beginnings as a

quadrennial International Life Boat

Conference supported by the RNLI.

In 1932 that conference was held in

Holland. One of the items in the

conference report can be seen on

our Facebook page. Communicated

by Sir George Shee, it is a message

to all lifesavers from the Pope and

Benito Mussolini (!) who were both

impressed by the universal reach

and importance of the lifeboat

services of the time. Get on line,

read the piece, ‘like’ us and we will

keep you informed with new

snippets now and then.

The IMRF can also be followed on

Twitter and LinkedIn, and all of this

is supported by our updated web-

site and of course this bi-monthly

newsletter, LIFE LINE, which comes

to your in-box as a pdf or can be

downloaded from the site, and also

appears in edited form on-line,

translated into 6 languages.

But if all else fails, email us or give

us a call. We are here to help!

Radios at last

Readers with long

memories may recall that,

some three years ago,

IMRF Members the UK’s

Maritime and Coastguard

Agency kindly donated

over 100 handheld VHF

radios for distribution

through our ‘Members

Assisting Members’ scheme. Many

of these units have been helping

save lives around the world ever

since. But not quite all of them.

Sometimes bureaucracy can be a

slow business – and radios are

subject to quite a lot of border

bureaucracy! But we get there in the

end, usually. We recently heard from

Asanka Nanayakkara, Secretary-

General of the Life Saving

Association of Sri Lanka, letting us

know that the 11 units allocated to

LSASL have finally been delivered.

The arrival of the radios, wrote

Asanka, “really sent a buzz through

the entire team and everyone

connected with our association. The

generous support of fellow IMRF

Members helps us continue in our

mission and to assist those in danger

in our community.”

People say that ‘a little goes a long

way’. And so it does – eventually!

Sunbird

Working out of the IMRF office in

Shanghai recently, CEO Bruce Reid

had the opportunity to discuss the

emerging challenge the China

maritime rescue services are facing

with recreational boating.

Bruce met Sunbird Yacht Manu-

facturing Company General Manager

Mr Mingyi Wu, in Zhuhai in the

southern province of Guangdong. As

well as building commercial and

recreational craft Sunbird have just

registered a Foundation to establish

a volunteer rescue service. This

decision was made because of the

increasing number of recreational

boats on the local waters.

Zhuhai has ideal conditions for

recreational boating. It has an

average temperature of 23 degrees

Celsius, allowing for the use of boats

almost throughout the year. There

are 146 islands and a coastline of

690 kilometres. It is close to Macao

and Hong Kong, which have more

than 10,000 registered yachts, and is

in the Pearl River Delta, one of the

richest areas of China.

With the increasing traffic on the

water, there is pressure on the

current maritime emergency response

services, so establishing a volunteer

service to assist the authorities is

seen as a priority by Mr Wu.

It is early days for the Foundation

and they are keen to join the IMRF

to take advantage of the knowledge

our members have in building a

volunteer organisation and also the

training of volunteers to respond to

recreational boaties in distress. With

the support of Sunbird the wheels

are in motion.

And finally...

We hope that you have found this

issue of LIFE LINE informative and

interesting. If you would like to

contribute articles and pictures

about your news, projects, events,

ideas or lessons learned, please

contact [email protected]

lifeline april 2015 - english

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