lifeline october 2013 - english

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www.international-maritime-rescue.org

LLIIFFEE LLIINNEE

The Newsletter of the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF)

News… Experience… Ideas… Information… Development…

In this issue:

an inspiring tale of survival from the Andaman Sea

IMRF meetings and workshops in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong

updates on the IMRF rescue boat guidelines and crew exchange projects

news from Costa Rica, Uganda, Tanzania, the Baltic, the Gambia and Papua New Guinea

and more!

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Hope

The Editor writes:

We have an extraordinary story for you in this edition of LIFE LINE.

The young man you see in the pictures, being rescued by HTMS Pattani of the

Royal Thai Navy after an extensive SAR operation, is Mohammad Mobarak

Hossain, Second Officer of a ship called Hope, abandoned after developing a

severe list in heavy seas south of Phuket.

He has been in the sea for more than 40 hours.

In August I visited the Bangladesh Marine Academy, in Chittagong, to speak to

the students about maritime SAR. The Academy’s Commandant, Sajid Hussain,

asked if I would mind giving up some of the time allocated for my talk to allow

Second Officer Mobarak to recount his experience. “He may not speak for long,”

said Sajid. This was only a month after his ordeal, and addressing an

audience of more than 500 would be daunting. I said yes, of course;

and we agreed that he should speak in Bangla (the Academy is

English-medium) to make it a little easier.

I do not speak Bangla – but when this young officer spoke, for 20

minutes and without notes, re-living his nightmare so that we could

learn from it, I found that I was as riveted as everyone else in the hall.

His was clearly an astonishing tale of survival – and, yes, hope.

We in SAR need to hear more from survivors. We need to remember

what amazing things they can do. Second Officer Mobarak has very

kindly agreed to tell you his story. See page 6.

LLIIFFEE LLIINNEE OOccttoobbeerr 22001133

www.international-maritime-rescue.org page 2

Editorial

Welcome to the latest edition of your newsletter.

As you will have seen from our front page, we have

the privilege of hearing from an extraordinary survivor

in this edition of LIFE LINE – and I make no apology

for devoting more than the usual amount of space to

Second Officer Mobarak’s story. Many readers,

operating purpose-built rescue craft, would have

found the rescue easier, I’m sure; and HTMS Pattani

eventually carried it out with great professionalism.

But the difficulties experienced by the other ships,

both as regards location and recovery, demonstrate

why the IMRF has devoted attention to these

problems in recent years, including a recent review of

the IMO guidance on recovery techniques (see page

9). There are SAR improvements still to be made.

Second Officer Mobarak addresses the cadets

and staff of the Bangladesh Marine Academy

I should also note that I have not sought to cover the

whole story of the abandonment of mv Hope, the

rescue of some of her crew, and the loss of others.

These matters will still be under formal investigation,

and it would be wrong to express any views based on

partial evidence – other than the obvious ones that I

have already expressed: there is room for

improvement (and always will be), and this is a

survivor’s tale that we need to hear.

***

In other news, IMRF Trustees and officers have had

a busy couple of months, including taking lead parts

in SAR conferences and workshops in Bangladesh,

Sri Lanka and Hong Kong (see pages 3-4).

We have updates on our rescue boat guidelines and

crew exchange projects, too – and, of course, SAR

news from around the world. Whether arguing over

the minutiae of IMO texts in Amsterdam or showing

kids how to stay safe on an African

beach, the IMRF and IMRF

Members are in the thick of it!

I hope you enjoy the read.

Dave Jardine-Smith

[email protected]

Contents

Hope ................................. 1

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

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

The IMRF in Bangladesh ................... 3

The IMRF in Sri Lanka ................... 4

The IMRF in Hong Kong ................... 4

Società Nazionale di Salvamento ... 5

SAR Matters: Hope ................................. 6

Rescue Boat Guidelines ................... 8

European Crew Exchange ................... 8

SAR-506 ................................. 9

ICAO/IMO Joint Working Group ... 9

Water skills training, Uganda ................... 10

Water skills training, Tanzania ................... 10

News from the Baltic ................... 11

News from the Gambia ................... 11

News from Papua New Guinea ... 11

Honours for IMRF stalwarts ................... 12

Send us your news & pictures ... 12

Dates for the Diary

Baltic ACO Course 15-18 October 2013

To be held in Finland. Contact [email protected] for details.

IMRF European Regional Development Meeting

18-19 October 2013 To be held in Estonia. Contact [email protected] 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.

International OSC Course 4-8 November 2013

To be held in Finland. Contact [email protected] for 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 the December edition of LIFE LINE.

World Maritime Rescue Congress 1-4 June 2015

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

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]



The IMRF in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Coast Guard has applied

for IMRF membership, appreciating

the benefits of becoming more

integrated in the international

maritime SAR community. As a

rapidly developing organization, the

Coast Guard is keen to take

advantage of the contacts and

information-sharing provided by the

IMRF and its member organisations.

A good example of this is a general

SAR Manual, composed in Bangla,

written after two Coast Guard officers

attended training in the UK and

Ireland's Royal National Lifeboat

Institution (RNLI) College in Poole,

England. On their return, they used

the knowledge they had gained and

adapted some of the RNLI resource

materials to produce the manual.

"The IMRF really appreciates the

level of interest generated by our visit

and workshop,” said IMRF Chairman

Michael Vlasto. “We were impressed

by the commitment and genuine

enthusiasm displayed by the local

agencies to work together to improve

maritime safety and SAR responses".

He added: "We are delighted that the

Honourable Minister for Home Affairs

gave so much of his time for

discussions with us and that he kindly

inaugurated the workshop. This

commitment to a key area of his

portfolio augurs well for the further

development of the services provided

by the Coast Guard and the other

agencies involved in protecting the

Reducing the number of lives lost in

the waters of Bangladesh is a top

priority for the Government and the

country's search and rescue services.

Now some important new initiatives

have been agreed upon following a

maritime mass rescue operations

workshop with the IMRF.

The waterways of Bangladesh are the

nation’s primary transport network –

and accidents occur often. More than

a thousand lives are lost each year at

sea, around the coast, and in inland

waters in a country its own inhabitants

refer to as a ‘delta’. Shallow draft

passenger launches are double- and

even triple-decked, making the

hazard of overloading a significant

challenge.

Bangladesh Coast Guard grasped the

opportunity to meet with the IMRF

and to host a Maritime Mass Rescue

Workshop, coordinating the attendance

of other agencies involved in

maritime SAR operations in

the country, and ensuring that

the event was a great

success.

It was the first ever

international workshop held in

Bangladesh on this subject

and with the support of the

hosts, in particular the Minister

for Home Affairs Dr Muhiuddin

Khan Alamgir, led to some

very effective inter-agency

discussions.

Bangladesh is a country facing

very significant environmental

challenges, and there was extensive

discussion of disaster and emergency

coordination responsibilities: ‘disaster’

in this context relating to cyclones or

floods, whereas ‘significant maritime

events’ as portrayed in the workshop

exercise are better described as

surpassing the ordinary capability of

any organisation to manage routinely.

It was agreed that further discussion

is necessary between the agencies

involved. In his closing remarks at the

end of the workshop Rear Admiral Kazi

Sarwar Hossain, Bangladesh Coast

Guard’s Director General, suggested

the development of a National

Strategic SAR Committee to help

address the challenges identified.

IMRF Trustee Brooke Archbold, CEO

Bruce Reid, and Chairman Michael Vlasto

at the Sadarghat launch terminal

waterside and travelling communities

of Bangladesh, and reducing the

number of drownings".

The IMRF also visited Coast Guard

headquarters for round-table

discussions; and the Sadarghat

launch terminal in Dhaka, where

Coast Guard and Bangladesh Inland

Water Transport Authority staff deal

with the challenges of managing some

25 million people transiting

the terminal and eight million

tonnes of cargo being handled

annually.

The visit to Sadarghat

underpinned some of the

challenges discussed in the

workshop. “The combination

of river conditions, extreme

weather, flooding and the huge

number of people on the

water at any given time, make

this a particularly difficult area

to provide SAR coverage",

noted IMRF CEO Bruce Reid.

(Above:) the MRO workshop in full swing;

and (below) IMRF Trustees and officials

meet for discussions with officers of

Bangladesh Coast Guard

(Left to right, seated:) Rear Admiral Hossain; the

Honourable Advocate Shamsul Hoque Tuku, State Minister

for Home Affairs; the Honourable Minister, Dr Muhiuddin

Khan Alamgir; and Vice Admiral Mohammad Farid Habib,

Chief of Staff, Bangladesh Navy, listen to Michael Vlasto’s

opening address at the MRO workshop



The IMRF in Sri Lanka...

The Life Saving Association of

Sri Lanka (LSASL) hosted the

IMRF in August at an event

attended by 40 regional

coordinators, rescue volunteers

and other SAR service

representatives.

The LSASL has just become a

member of the IMRF and having the

Chairman and CEO of the charity

present for open forum discussions

proved to be highly productive.

“LSASL is continuing to develop its

capability and the statistics relating to

lives saved are impressive on a

comparative basis,” says Michael

Vlasto, IMRF Chairman. “The IMRF is

keen to share our members’

knowledge, resources and experience

to help with the development of SAR

organisations in Sri Lanka.”

The forum addressed ways in which

the IMRF could help. The key topics

discussed were training of volunteers,

sourcing funds, planning for the

future, and developing collaboration

with other government and non-

government SAR organisations.

Water-related mass rescue, as part of

the disaster management process for

Sri Lanka, was on the agenda and the

IMRF suggested that a workshop

similar to that successfully run in

Bangladesh (see page 3) would be of

value in the future.

There was also a comprehensive

presentation by the Sri Lanka Coast

Guard on the challenging but

increasingly successful lifesaving

work being carried out by their rapidly

developing service.

IMRF CEO Bruce Reid says: “The

visits to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

have strengthened links between the

IMRF and local SAR agencies and

have given further proof of the value

of international cooperation.

“We are confident that we will be

sharing views on how to save lives in

and around their waters at future

events, leading to more effective SAR

services in the region.”

...and Hong Kong

Communication and consistency are

key to saving lives in the congested

waters of the Asia Pacific region.

Improving the SAR communications

infrastructure, advancing an integrated

regional radio network, and developing

common systems and procedures

among SAR organisations in the

area would be of great help.

These were some of the conclusions

drawn from the IMRF’s Asia Pacific

regional meeting in Hong Kong in

early September, when 17 SAR

organisations agreed the need for a

plan to improve lifesaving across this

huge and busy region.

The Asia Pacific development meeting,

attended by representatives of 17 SAR

organisations

The meeting identified developing

trends, such as an increasing number

of super cruise liners each carrying

6000 persons or more; increased

crossing ferry traffic leading to a

greater risk of collision; and growing

populations resulting in more use of

the congested waterways for multi-

purpose transportation of people

and cargo.

Particularly vulnerable groups include

passenger ferries, because of

overloading and the potential for

capsize; and the fishing fleet, with

many small vessels lacking a means of

communicating with SAR organisations

when they get into difficulty.

IMRF Chairman Michael Vlasto said:

"The IMRF can help in a number of

ways, including promoting inter-

agency and inter-State research to

establish areas of best practice, and

providing a common resource library

to file that information. We can also

act as a third party facilitator with

Governments to assist services and

actively support SAR development.

"Training is another important

dimension,” he added. “We can

facilitate this, building links between

SAR organisations to enable the

sharing of ideas and initiatives.”

Other challenges for the region

include differing SAR structures

between States, variations in SAR

equipment and procedures, the

danger of smaller vessels not being

regulated or policed, difficulty in

securing funding, and the need to

increase public water safety

awareness & education.

A Mass Rescue Operations Workshop

held as part of this meeting

considered an incident occurring well

offshore. The subsequent discussion

identified at an operational level what

had been discussed strategically at

the regional meeting.

“All of this points to the need for a

consistent approach, expanding the

current bilateral SAR agreements

into a regional one," suggested the

IMRF’s Bruce Reid. "The structure

for this is laid out in the International

Aeronautical and Maritime Search

and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual, so

we are really talking about how to put

this into practice across the region.”

John Geel, of IMRF Member the Royal

Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution

(KNRM), who facilitated the workshop,

discusses a point with a break-out group

LSASL President Sanath Wijayaratne

presents Michael Vlasto with a plaque

to mark LSASL’s joining the IMRF



Member Focus: SNS, Italy

We have a long history, writes Romano Grandi of

the SNS. In fact, the Società Nazionale di

Salvamento (National Rescue Society) was

founded in Genoa on 1871, recognised as a

“Moral Institution” by the King of Italy in 1876, and

bases all its social activity on the Articles of

Association of the time, still valid today. The

Articles lay down that the SNS shall provide for

“…rescue at sea, on rivers and on lakes… the relief of

shipwrecked persons… the prevention of asphyxia due to

immersion… drowning prevention… and the spreading of

seamanship and physical and moral development among

young people…” These are activities which are still carried

on by SNS members. Today, SNS is a not-for-profit

organisation, a registered member of the Government Civil

Protection Department as the “volunteers’ association of

national interest for water emergencies”.

The SNS Head Office is located in Genoa, with more

than 240 local offices spread all over the peninsula,

the islands, rivers and great lakes. About 85,000

SNS lifeguards work every summer season on

privately managed beaches and, year-round, in

swimming pools, where it is compulsory to have a

lifeguard presence. Many of our lifeguards work

voluntarily on beaches freely open to the public,

where it is not compulsory to station lifeguards.

From the legal point of view, the Italian Coast Guard have

responsibility regarding safety of life at sea. So the Coast

Guard lays down the procedure for the organisation and

management of beach rescue, and the equipment, both

technical and medical (first aid), that every lifeguard station

must have. The Coast Guard also approves the technical

and theoretical programme of training courses for new

lifeguards, and chairs the examination commissions for the

licenses issued at the end of each course.

But the Coast

Guard can’t be

present all along

the 8000 km of the

national coast line.

So, during the

summer season, a

fleet of RIBs and water-jets with towed stretchers, crewed

by specially trained SNS lifeguards, works along the

inshore waters, engaging in preventative patrolling and

intervening in case of emergency. This is done voluntarily

or based on agreements with the local Municipalities for the

pure costs of the service.

The vocational training of SNS lifeguards follows two sets

of guidelines. The technical training covers rescue

swimming, rescue holds in the water, and the transport of

the drowning person back to the beach using the

necessary equipment, together with the rules and

procedures established by the local Coast Guard Office for

beach rescue services.

The reanimation and first-aid teaching method

follows the International Liaison Committee On

Resuscitation (ILCOR) guidelines agreed at the

last World Congress on Drowning Prevention (in

Da Nang, Vietnam, 2011). Among the most

important points is to re-establish oxygenation

and breathing as soon as possible, followed by

lengthy reanimation attempts after the rescue.

The guidelines also cover the most efficacious

procedures for Basic Life Support, and the use of

defibrillators.

Some SNS teams take special courses in river or flood

rescue. Others take courses on the recovery of people cut

off on beaches or rocks under cliffs. Some have made

themselves available to the national and international

communities, turning their social commitment and skills to

responding to emergencies such as earthquakes. They

have, for instance, helped after the war in Yugoslavia, in

Kosovo, and in Sri Lanka after the

2004 tsunami. And the Civil

Protection Department presented a

Gold Medal to the SNS in

recognition of our response to the

Abruzzo earthquake on 6 April 2009.

Special mention should be given to

the SNS’s ‘education and

prevention’ programme. We are

convinced that education is the best

‘remedy’: avoiding water emergencies

through improved awareness of the dangers related to

swimming or other water sports. SNS and the Ministry of

Education, University and Research have agreed a

memorandum of understanding for primary and secondary

education in a water safety culture. The schools

programme includes an information campaign: “I learn for

me”, “I learn for others”, “I rescue others”. Other fun

events are organised in cooperation with the Coast Guard

with the same aim: the “My Friend The Sea Day”, for

example.

And, as well as these other initiatives, the SNS has made

two short cartoons for children available for all IMRF

Members on the IMRF website: click on “Projects –

education and prevention”. A new cartoon, lasting about

12 minutes, is now in production.



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 [email protected].

Or you can join the discussion on our SAR Matters Blog,

online at www.international-maritime-rescue.org. Have a

look at previous discussions too, in the LIFE LINE archive.

In this edition we have something different for you: an

extraordinary story of survival from the Andaman Sea:

see pages 1 & 2. We are very grateful to Mohammad

Mobarak Hossain for agreeing to share his story.

3rd

July, 2013. I went on the bridge at 2300: every day I

used to take over my watch one hour before due time, and

that day also I did so. The Captain went below.

From the beginning of the passage the sea was rough. The

ship was rolling and pitching simultaneously. But about

0015 I observed a sudden smoothing of the sea. The

pitching stopped but the ship was still rolling. But this rolling

was different. The ship rolled to starboard about 2 to 5

degrees and came upright. But we didn’t roll to port. That

made me suspicious. I called the Master and told him about

the ship’s abnormal behaviour.

While talking we felt another roll to starboard – bigger than

before. He said, “I am coming to the bridge.” I started to

alter the ship’s course to eastward as wind and swell were

from the west. In the meantime the Chief Officer also called

the bridge, asking about the ship’s list. I suggested he

come to the bridge too.

By the time the Master and Chief Officer arrived the rolling

had reached about 15 degrees. The Master ordered the

Chief Officer to prepare the lifeboats and all the other

relevant safety equipment. The Master and I remained on

the bridge. We sent a distress alert by all available means.

The Captain asked the 2nd Engineer to attend the engine

room: if necessary we would ring the telegraph for him to

leave. I collected all the GMDSS equipment, gathered it in

a bag and sent it to the boat station. By this time the ship

had listed to almost 35 degrees. Everything was falling

down from port side to starboard side. The bridge floor

became slippery: it was raining. We couldn’t walk properly.

Hope, listing to about 40° (photo: Royal Thai Navy)

Two ships acknowledged our distress signal. One was 12

miles ahead of us, another 4 miles on our port beam. We

asked the second ship for assistance. She followed us for

about an hour, maintaining half mile distance, while we

tried to reach the coast.

Suddenly there was a blackout on the ship. I became

worried about the 2nd

Engineer: he was in the engine

room and it would be difficult to come up. I went onto the

bridge wing and shouted to the crew, “Someone go down

with a torch to bring out the 2nd

Engineer.” But he was

already there. The Master and I came down from the

bridge. But when we arrived at the boat station we found

that nothing had been prepared: there was panic. So I

didn’t bother anybody and began getting the liferaft ready

to be lowered, helped only by one of the deck cadets.

Once the liferaft was lowered, I thought we should all wait

aboard until it was clear the ship would sink. I went back

to the bridge to collect the relevant charts and other

important items. But while going up the stairs I could hear

the sound of people jumping into the water. I had a look

from the bridge wing and saw the Chief Officer jumping.

After taking the charts from the bridge I came down &

found nobody onboard except me & the 2nd

Engineer. I

saw that some of the crew couldn’t catch the liferaft: they

were floating away with the current. The Chief Officer was

one of them. The Captain boarded the liferaft safely. From

there he was shouting, “Jump! Jump! We are waiting for

you. I am going to cut the painter line.” Then I thought I

should join the group. I suggested to the 2nd

Engineer that

he should jump. But he said to me to jump first.

I jumped from the starboard quarter, wearing lifejacket

and immersion suit. I was swimming to join the liferaft but

it was drifting away. I could see the Captain very near to

me and could hear him shout, “Get hold of my hand, hold

my hand!” But I couldn’t catch hold of it. Someone from

the raft threw a lifebuoy. I caught that but couldn’t reach

the liferaft. The current pushed me away.

The ship standing by observed that I couldn’t board the

liferaft. She came to rescue me. But she was heading for

me at speed. She came too close: her bulbous bow

injured my right hand and leg. She had rigged a pilot

ladder and two lifebuoys on each side. But I couldn’t

catch hold of them because of her bow wave.

She approached a second time. But I was scared, as I

had been struck by the bow and injured the first time, and

I swam away. From the water I was shouting to them to

lower the rescue boat. But they didn’t.

A third time she started to head towards me. Now I was

thinking that I shouldn’t be scared. I should catch hold of

the bow or a lifebuoy or ladder. Though I might be injured,

I would survive. So I was maintaining a position right

ahead of the ship. Her bulbous bow was out of the water:

she was a bigger ship than ours. Then the bow hit my

head and I sank deep underwater.

(continued on page 7)



floating against it I was getting hurt by each wave. I could

hardly tolerate the situation. I couldn’t see any possibility

of being rescued. I accepted death. My pain became

meaningless to me because today or tomorrow I would

die. Once, I convinced myself to leave the lifejacket and

get down underwater. But I didn’t do that just to check my

stamina. My whole body became numb with pain but I

didn’t lose hope. I was fighting for life in the deep sea.

Just before sunset I saw two more bodies floating ahead

of us, moving up and down in the high swell. One of them

was alive: he was shouting. The other was our Captain

and he was dead. But I couldn’t reach them. The sun set

and they became invisible.

Everything was dark. Our lifejacket light had died as it only

had 8 hours’ life. The cadet slept on my back. He was cold

too and asked permission to hug me.

Sometimes ships were visible. I could see one ship near

to us. I started to blow the lifejacket whistle. I think that

ship heard my whistle but couldn’t identify us as we had

no lights. Later we saw some fishing net lights. We tried to

reach them but were unable to for the high swell. Both of

us hardly survived the second night.

After sunrise I couldn’t control my sleepy eyes. I slept and

the cadet was awake. The swell splashed my face and

kept waking me up. Slowly I was losing my normal mental

condition. I was experiencing hallucinations: I had the

feeling that our ship had been re-boarded by everyone

except us.

About 4 o’clock in the afternoon I opened my eyes and

saw a ship near to us. She threw two lifebuoys with lines. I

told the cadet to catch one. He caught the forward one

and was able to climb in. I caught the aft one and found

myself beneath the curvature of the ship’s hull. They were

pulling the lifebuoy. But I was getting scratched against

the hull. So I left the buoy & started floating again. They

too did not lower a rescue boat.

After floating for half an hour more I saw a Thai Navy ship,

and found two divers in the water. A stretcher was

lowered by winch. The divers helped me into it. I was

rescued just before sunset. If the sun had set, I would not

have lived. I had no lights and gradually I was losing my

stamina. For that I feel very lucky. After floating for more

than 40 hours I was rescued at last.

Aboard the Navy ship they gave me primary treatment

then took me to the hospital by helicopter.

After being rescued I heard that not everyone had been

rescued from the liferaft. The first rescue ship had hit the

liferaft with her bow as she did me. The raft capsized and

everyone was scattered. Only five men could be brought

aboard the ship. Another crew member survived by

holding onto the liferaft: a helicopter rescued him.

Mobarak was the last of nine of Hope’s crew to be

rescued. Two bodies were recovered, including that of the

Chief Officer. The Captain and the 2nd

Engineer are

among the missing.

(continued from page 6)

My lifejacket and lifebuoy floated me up again. But I was

sucked up under the bottom of the ship. To save my head

I tried to fend off the keel with my left arm. The ship was

running over me and took off the flesh. I was swallowing

sea water through my nose and mouth. Luckily I came out

from under the ship. I found I was bleeding from both my

hands, my head and my leg. My immersion suit was torn

and water was getting in. So I took the suit off. I shouted to

the ship’s crew, telling them I was injured and asking them

to lower a rescue boat. They heard me but did nothing. I

saw no lookout forward on any of the three approaches.

After that I started floating again with my lifejacket &

lifebuoy. Suddenly I started vomiting. That went on for a

long time. During this time I saw that a few lights were

floating here and there. One of them came close to me. I

shouted to him. It was one of the deck cadets.

We swam to each other, and floated holding hands.

Suddenly a big swell came and the cadet lost his lifejacket.

He became nervous and said, “What will happen to me? I

will die.” He started swimming to catch his lifejacket again.

But I didn’t let him go. I said, “If you leave me you will be

lost. Don’t worry. We will stay together. Come inside my

lifebuoy. We will face the situation together.” I took him inside

my lifebuoy: we were stowed so compactly that nothing

could knock us out of it. We waited for the liferaft to be

rescued, believing that the ship would then come back for

us. But after sunrise she went away and was lost to sight.

The sea current was opposite to the direction of the swell.

As most of us was under water, we were moving against

the swell. Around 9 or 10 o’clock in the morning I saw a

helicopter and a ship with a blue hull about 6 or 7 miles

away from us. We tried to attract their attention by waving

our lifejacket but nobody saw us. I was thinking that if I

had my walkie-talkie with me I could contact them. But all

the GMDSS equipment, including my walkie-talkie, had

been transferred to the liferaft. After some while the

helicopter and the ship went away.

I watched the sun to determine the way we were floating. I

realised that we were drifting westward where there was

no coast, no land and no shipping routes. I became sure

that we would die. Most of the time I was thinking about

the Captain’s hand and regretting that only that little

distance had meant that I couldn’t join the raft. I thought

that everybody in the liferaft would surely survive.

After some time I found some fishes were biting our toes &

fingers. Luckily they were not so big: their length was less

than a metre. If I kept my legs still, the fish started to bite.

For that reason I kept moving my legs all the time.

About 1400 I heard a loud cry: “Allah!” I shouted, “Who is

there? Raise your hand. Come closer.” But there was no

reply. Around an hour later I saw a body floating close to

us. We swam to it: it was one of the oilers. We checked

thoroughly whether he was alive, but he was dead. I

released the body and again started floating.

We were experiencing a very high swell and as we were



The IMRF Rescue Boat Guidelines project: next steps

IMRF CEO Bruce Reid writes:

I am pleased to advise that the Rescue Boat Guidelines

(RBG) project – which has had a few stops and starts, due

to circumstances beyond our control – is on the way to the

finishing line.

Our plans to bring in Remmi Pedersen to manage the

project were reported earlier in the year (LIFE LINE,

February). Good people are hard to keep hold of, though,

and unfortunately for the IMRF Remmi received an offer of

work he couldn’t refuse and he was not able to take up the

role. This forced a rethink of the plan.

Parts 1 and 2 of the project are completed with the base

model of the RBG application developed in Excel. This

means that there are two parts left to complete, as well as

the development of an RBG Workshop.

Part 3 is the on-line application.

Part 4 is the on-line resource library.

To keep the project advancing the decision has been

made to build the application and the library. Once these

are completed we can fill in the gaps.

The on-line system and a trial version of the application is

now ready for the RBG working group to review and

modify. Once this work has been completed we will review

the content and develop the balance of the fields.

The key areas on which we will be seeking

input from our membership will be:

Revising the equipment content

Development of and agreement on

the training content

Adding content to the resource

library

Trial of the application

We will keep you posted as this key project evolves – and

in the meantime a big thank you to all involved for the

work you have done and are about to do.

European Crew Exchange

Rescue volunteers from nine European nations are

participating in a seven-day Lifeboat Crew Exchange

Programme sharing experiences and knowledge, to

improve maritime SAR responses, and to help to prevent

loss of life in Europe's waters.

The crews involved collectively commit thousands of

hours every year to serving their communities, helping

keep those going out on the water safe. The seven

intensive days they will spend with their counterparts from

the other rescue organisations on the exchange provide a

perfect platform to share their experiences, knowledge

and best practice in maritime SAR matters.

The exchange comprises simulated SAR exercises as well

as training modules from the host organisation in areas

such as first aid, navigation, off-road driving, crisis

management, leadership and maritime English.

Participants also experience day- and night-time exercises

including towing, man-overboard recovery, sea survival,

lifeguarding, recovering boats and helicopter transfers.

“Collaboration and experience-sharing is key to improving

maritime SAR responses,” says the IMRF’s Bruce Reid.

“The European Lifeboat Crew Exchange Programme is a

great example of how knowledge on best practice in

maritime SAR can be shared. With IMRF coordination,

these volunteer rescue organisations can cost-effectively

share the burden of developing rescue capability, to help

meet the ever-growing challenges in European waters by

learning from the experiences of others.”

Each organisation operates its own training programme

because of the specialist activities they carry out and the

conditions they operate in. The crew members experience

this training first-hand over the course of the week,

exposing them to new training content as well as the

different styles and approaches their hosts may use.

The project is managed by Linde Jelsma of IMRF

members the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution

(KNRM). The programme is now in its second year, with

funding secured through the Life Long Learning

Programme of the European Union for this year and 2014.

Linde has been very pleased with the feedback from the

first exchange, and

received good support for

continuing the programme

from all the organisations

involved. “We now have a

model in place to build

and improve on, knowing

that there is support in

place until the end of

2014,” she says. “We

have been working hard

with the coordinators from

each country to make this year’s experience a step up on

the successful programme we ran last year.”



SAR-506

Alvaro A Riba writes from

Costa Rica:

Because of its geography, Costa Rica is an absolutely

coastal nation. Its marine area surpasses its surface area

by ten times. The country presents an enormous habitat

diversity, with a vast quantity of organisms that reach an

estimated 3.5% of worldwide marine biodiversity.

Given these characteristics, it is no wonder that Costa

Rica has a constant influx of tourists. It is a local custom

to just jump in the water at any beach without a care for

tides and rip currents. Since there are no warning flags or

posted signs, tourists assume that the beaches are safe.

Besides, anybody can operate any kind of boat and go in

whichever direction they want in the ocean. Regulations

are in place but not followed. No safety courses, no

precautions, radio, flares or any type of safety instructions

in case of emergencies are available to beachgoers and

boaters. So every year there are numerous drowning

victims and accidents in the water. But records are not

well kept, so the lessons are not being learned.

SAR 506 is a new organization willing to take on this

challenge. We have started collecting statistical

information to create a chart of dangerous areas along the

Costa Rican coastal waters, specifying the kind of danger

at each point. For this we are interviewing the local police,

fire department, Red Cross, and the local fishermen’s

associations, as they are the most apt to provide us with

local information about events in their communities.

Another goal is to raise marine safety awareness among

Costa Ricans, and to put together the first water safety

course in the country, working with the National Institute

of Learning (INA) and individuals in the private sector.

One approach will be to have new boat owners take the

course as part of the initiation they receive when they

make their purchase at a dealership.

We are starting with this

awareness program at the

marinas. To boaters that travel

more than 30 miles off the coast,

we suggest to carry liferafts, and

if they are into tourism as a

business, we also suggest

tracking devices so they can be

found in case of any emergency.

Important to our organization are the 930 retired police

officers who are becoming our members through an

agreement with the Police Department of Costa Rica. We

want to be present at the most popular beaches, where

most tourists as well as locals congregate, and these are

the people who will make this possible.

We want to raise awareness on the spot, give information

about the tides, rip currents and other local hazards, and

remind bathers about safety, without being obtrusive. We

have a big challenge ahead of us.

ICAO / IMO Joint Working Group on SAR

Apart from its many other areas of work, the IMRF is the

representative voice of maritime SAR – the ‘non-

Governmental organisation in consultative status’, as the

jargon puts it – at the IMO. This means that we can speak

for our Members and for maritime SAR on the world stage,

at the appropriate technical body of the United Nations.

But SAR is not only maritime, of course. While SAR on

land is largely a matter for individual States to look after,

the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

also has an obvious interest in the subject. So the two

agencies – IMO and ICAO – established a Joint Working

Group (JWG) 20 years ago to harmonise aeronautical and

maritime SAR response. The JWG meets annually, to deal

with matters referred to it by its two parent organisations.

This year’s meeting has just been held, in Amsterdam, and

David Jardine-Smith of the IMRF was there.

Members and Observers of the JWG, deep in debate

One of the primary purposes of the JWG is to act as an

editorial board for the International Aeronautical and

Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR) Manual. It is now

working on the edition to be

published in 2016. (If you haven’t got

your copy of the 2013 edition yet,

remember you can save 20% by buying

at the IMRF Bookshop! See

www.international-maritime-rescue.org.)

Among other 2016 IAMSAR texts

reviewed in Amsterdam was a final

revision of the guidance on search

times for people believed to be in

the water. This revision stems from the work done by an

IMRF-coordinated expert group, as previously reported in

LIFE LINE. Similarly the JWG reviewed and approved,

with minor amendments, the IMRF’s revision of the

guidance on recovery techniques – how to get people out

of the water, particularly into big ships.

Other work the IMRF will continue to take part in is to do

with improving mass rescue operations; the response to

emergency beacon alerts; and the IMO’s review of the

Global Maritime Distress & Safety System – the GMDSS.

Success: they’re wearing lifejackets!



...and in Tanzania

The lives of hundreds of African

children will be safer around

water thanks to a lifesaving

programme which is being run in

Tanzania.

The Aquatic Survival Programme is

being introduced by IMRF Member

the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

(RNLI). It has two key aims: to

deliver water safety messages to

school children, and to teach

children basic survival swimming.

The charity is training local teachers,

community leaders and scout

leaders to deliver vital water safety

messages, working closely with a

local Zanzibari community-based

organisation called The Panje Project,

which is providing important ‘on the

ground’ support, involving local people

and schools in the programme.

The first run of the programme is

taking place in the village of Nungwi

in Zanzibar, where ten local people

are being trained by the RNLI on

water safety issues. Five of them are

receiving additional training in how to

teach self-survival and rescue – or

basic survival swimming. They will

then deliver the sessions to local

children, to put their learning into

practice immediately.

Over the course of two weeks, at

least 300 children aged 7-14 are

being taught about water safety and

30-40 children are being taught self-

survival and rescue.

The World Health Organisation

estimates that Africa has the highest

continental drowning rate in the

world. There is currently no global

swim-survival programme for low-

resource countries, so the RNLI has

worked closely with other key

organisations to create this unique

programme. An Aquatic Survival

Programme manual has been

designed specifically, and is being

used to deliver the training. It will

then be available as an open-source

resource for local people to use. The

manual covers how to set up and run

the programme – from finding a

suitable location, to sourcing funding

and delivering the training.

IMRF Members work in various ways

to save lives in the world’s waters. All

will agree that prevention is as good

as cure – better, indeed, especially in

those parts of the world that cannot

yet afford dedicated SAR units. As

the two stories on this page show,

you can save lives by simply talking

on a beach...

Water Skills Training in Uganda

Royal Life Saving Society Uganda

have contacted [email protected]

to tell us that they have started to

train five fishermen on a beach on

Lake Victoria.

The five, some of whom have

recently returned from fishing in

Tanzania, are headed by Mr Buga

Yusuf, owner of a fishing boat. He

and his crew took the initiative to

learn basic water skills after nine of

their colleagues perished in a

drowning incident in the lake on 23

July. The owner of the boat

concerned was among those who

perished.

David, Austin & Kadafi, members and

Volunteer Instructors with RLSS-Uganda,

with three of the fishermen taking part in

the training. (Mr Buga Yusuf is at centre.)

Mr Buga had this to say: “I want to

learn basic water skills to avoid being

a victim of drowning like my

colleagues Isma, the owner of the

boat, and eight of his crew members.

“Out of 16 who were involved in the

accident seven were able to survive

because they had basic water skills.”

Royal Life Saving Society Uganda

hope that with time more of the Lake

Victoria fishermen will have at least

basic water skills – and lives will be

saved as a result.

(Photo: RNLI/Mike Lavis)

If this first run of the programme is

successful, the RNLI will begin to roll

it out across Africa next year.

Steve Wills, the RNLI’s international

development manager, explains:

“Drowning is a leading cause of

death worldwide, and is particularly

prevalent in Africa. Teaching water

safety and swim-survival skills to

children means they have the

knowledge and skills for life,

significantly reducing their chances

of dying from drowning in the future.

“The RNLI’s priority is to make sure

we give local people the skills and

resources to continue delivering this

tuition to children once our trainers

have left the country. By focusing on

helping others to help themselves,

we’re equipping them with the

knowledge and skills to develop and

sustain their own lifesaving

programme.”

Separately, before the start of the

Aquatic Survival Programme in

Zanzibar, three RNLI lifeguard

trainers ran a lifeguard training

programme in Dar es Salaam.

They taught essential lifeguarding

skills to 30 participants from

Tanzania, Zanzibar and Uganda,

covering the crucial first steps of

lifeguarding and also delivering a

‘train the trainer’ course. This will

enable the trainee lifeguards to teach

the skills they learn to others – again

ensuring that they are able to set up

and sustain their own lifeguarding

service.

This initiative is a fine example of a

fundamental purpose of the IMRF:

the sharing of skills and experience

to improve water safety, survival and

rescue around the world. The RNLI,

for example, provide a range of

services such as training, supply of

equipment, safety education, and

guidance on SAR frameworks and

flood resilience.



News from the Baltic

There are a number of exciting SAR

initiatives in the Baltic to report.

First, the Finnish Border Guard has

launched a maritime SAR project that

will encompass the entire region. The

project, the Baltic Sea Maritime

Incident Response Survey, will

identify the major national operating

models that Baltic States have

implemented for preparing for, and

responding to, large-scale, multi-

sectoral maritime accidents. It aims

to disseminate best practices; and to

develop more effective cooperation

models between States.

While this project has obvious

benefits for the Baltic, its results will

be of great help globally too.

International and regional cooperation

are key to addressing the resource

issue in complex incidents.

A fine example of this cooperative

response is a Memorandum of

Understanding signed by Estonia,

Finland and Sweden. The aim here is

to link the three countries’ mass

rescue operations (MRO) planning,

working together as States and with

partners in the maritime community.

The On Scene Coordinator (OSC)

and Aircraft Coordinator (ACO) roles

can be vital in MRO planning and

response. The Finnish Border Guard

have arranged two pilot courses, one

for prospective ACOs in the Baltic

region, the other for ship masters and

other likely OSCs. The ACO course

is based on material developed by

the Danish, Finnish & Swedish SAR

authorities; the OSC one on material

from the World Maritime University and

the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum.

For details of these courses, see

‘Dates for the Diary’, page 2.

News from the Gambia

Theo van der Linden, of the Royal

Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution

(KNRM), writes:

The Gambia Fire and Rescue

Services received two rescue boats

from the KNRM in 2011. (See LIFE

LINE, April 2011.) The boats are now

located at Barra Sea Rescue Unit

and at Bakau Sea Rescue Station

respectively.

They are used for rescue purposes

and also events like Regatta standby.

The Regatta is a special programme

for local fishing boats, which engage

in boat racing, boat decoration and

swimming contests between the

various fishing centres. The rescue

boats are put on standby during the

event because more than 1000

people take part.

The Barra boat has also taken part in

a simulation exercise with the ferry

services; and the boat at Bakau has

stood by skydiving events.

The boats have rescued swimmers

and the crews of capsized boats, and

have transported medical cases from

North Bank to Banjul Ferry terminal.

Support is still needed. As these

rescue boats are heavy, we need a

tractor for launching. So far we have

mobilised local people to assist us,

but during the night we have to use

the small rescue boat, which is risky.

Training in rescue boat operations

and maintenance procedures,

communications and SAR

procedures is also required, as is

training and safety equipment,

including lifejackets.

If anyone can assist, please contact Ann Laing, at [email protected]

News from Papua New Guinea

The Australian Government’s over-

seas aid programme, AusAID, has

funded a second sea ambulance, the

Hinau Natuna, to help improve health

services in remote areas in Papua

New Guinea. The first vessel, Medics

Queen, arrived in May 2012 and now

operates along the South Fly coast.

Hinau Natuna (‘My Mother’s Child’)

carried out its first lifesaving mission

just hours after the launch ceremony

on 20 July, when an emergency call

was received from the remote village

of Losuia in the Trobriand Islands.

A first-time mother was facing a

prolonged labour and the baby was

in the breech position. Without

medical attention it was likely neither

of them would survive.

Every year an estimated 1,500

Papua New Guinean women die in

childbirth. Local health centre staff

were doing the best they could for

the mother, but faced limited options.

The next flight to Alotau General

Hospital was not leaving for another

three days and small ferries take up

to 32 hours to reach the hospital.

Hinau Natuna took 15 hours to reach

the mother, in rough seas and strong

winds, but the medical specialists

aboard provided treatment during the

return journey to Alotau, where a

baby boy was delivered safely.

“This emergency typifies the health

needs of the province,” said Billy

Naidi, of Milne Bay Provincial Health

Authority. “The sea ambulance will

help save lives throughout the islands.”

Alotau

Trobiand Is



LLIIFFEE LLIINNEE

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 [email protected]

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

Ian Wienburg (right) receives his Meritorious Service Award from

Peter Bacon, Chairman of the NSRI Board of Directors

IMRF Chairman Michael Vlasto has also been honoured,

this time by the City of Shanghai.

The Magnolia Award is a municipal honour given to

expatriates for their outstanding contribution to the city's

economic, social or cultural development – and the white

magnolia, whose petals always look skyward, is the city's

flower, symbolizing a pioneering and enterprising spirit.

Which sums up our Chairman pretty well, too…

Shanghai began presenting the Magnolia Awards in 1989

in recognition of expats' hard work and achievements.

Michael’s award is in recognition of the IMRF’s establishment

of our Asia-Pacific Regional Centre

(APRC) in the city, under his

leadership.

“It’s a great honour,” he says, “We

held our very successful 2011 World

Maritime Rescue Congress in

Shanghai, and I look forward to

continuing success for the APRC,

based in this great port city.”

Honours for IMRF Stalwarts

On 1 September Ian Wienburg – well-known and highly

respected throughout the SAR world – stepped down as

CEO of South Africa’s National Sea Rescue Institute.

Some retirements feel like the end of an era; but we hope

we have not seen the last of this man yet!

Ian was an active NSRI crew member for 20 years,

becoming a coxswain and taking part in many rescues,

before being persuaded to take over as CEO in November

1994. And the rest, in the words of the Meritorious Service

Award presented to him on his retirement, is history.

“When Ian took over the reins, the NSRI comprised 14

stations, manned by some 300 crew. The organisational

ethos was to just get on with the job of sea rescue without

fanfare, with the result that the NSRI was little-known

outside immediate marine circles and hence sponsorships

were very difficult to come by.

“Ian changed all that. Besides his uncanny ability to

persuade people to open their wallets, he took immediate

steps to raise the profile of the Institute.

“Through his immensely hard work funds began to flow in

and Ian was enabled to revitalise the NSRI organisation.

New boats were built, better equipment provided, and the

level of training was raised immeasurably. There are now

32 NSRI stations, staffed by 940 volunteers, operating 90

rescue craft, on call 24 hours a day; all backed by a

secure financial foundation. Ian has not forgotten children

who cannot swim either. The WaterWise programme he

launched in 2006 now teaches some 100,000 children a

year how to avoid getting into trouble in or near water.”

And the IMRF has a huge thank you to say to Ian, too. He

was a member of the steering committee set up in 2003

which led to the International Lifeboat Federation

transforming into the IMRF, and his continued support is a

source of strength and wise counsel to us all.

lifeline october 2013 - english

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