lifeline october 2015 - english

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www.international-maritime-rescue.org

LIFE LINE

The Newsletter of the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF)

News… Experience… Ideas… Information… Development…

In this issue:

the first meeting of the IMRF’s new Board of Trustees

news from Canada, the Caribbean, Singapore, Vietnam, Uganda, Morocco and China

the ongoing crisis in the Mediterranean

and more!

October

2015

Still they come

The flow of refugees and migrants across the Mediterranean – and across other seas around the world –

goes on, and the huge pressure on SAR responders continues. What can we do? See pages 8 & 9.

LIFE LINE October 2015

www.international-maritime-rescue.org page 2

Editorial

Welcome to the latest edition of your newsletter.

There is a focus on mass rescue operations in this

issue; that is, SAR operations “characterised by the

need for immediate response to large numbers of

persons in distress such that the capabilities

normally available to the SAR authorities are

inadequate”, as the International Maritime

Organization (IMO) defines them. We report on two

major MRO workshops, for States in the Caribbean

and in the Asia-Pacific region; and, in our regular

‘SAR Matters’ column, we consider the ongoing

problem of domestic ferry disasters, particularly in

the developing world.

But we also turn once again to the problem of mixed

mass migration, and its implications for maritime

SAR response: see the articles on pages 8 & 9. This

has been called the SAR challenge of our generation,

and it continues to cause great anxiety, for it

stretches SAR organisations to their limits and

requires enormous help from passing shipping,

stressing crews and budgets alike.

The IMRF’s CEO Bruce Reid, Board member James

Vaughan and I attended an ‘informal meeting’ at the

IMO in September, called by Italy, one of the

countries most affected by the Mediterranean crisis,

and attended by many other States and non-

Governmental organisations. The meeting discussed

the adequacy of IMO’s definition of ‘distress’ – “a

situation wherein there is a reasonable certainty

that a person, a vessel or other craft is threatened by

grave and imminent danger and requires immediate

assistance” – and unanimously agreed that not only

should it remain unaltered but that it clearly applies

to anyone in distress, no matter how they come to

be there. The relevant provisions of the United

Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and of

IMO’s SOLAS and SAR Conventions were also

rigorously defended.

Which is great – but it does not solve the problem.

It was pointed out that what is actually required is

not strictly a SAR operation at all. What is needed is a

properly-resourced seaborne humanitarian operation,

with SAR an emergency back-up.

Focus must be kept on this. The

IMRF will continue to play our part.

Dave Jardine-Smith

[email protected]

Contents

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

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

The new Board meets ................. 3

IMRF on the international stage ... 5

Mass rescue in the Caribbean ... 6

SAR Matters ................. 7

MOAS expands its mission ................. 8

Crisis in the Bay of Bengal ................. 8

Members Assisting Members ................. 9

Mass rescue in Singapore ................. 10

News from the APRC ................. 10

Vietnam’s Safe Ferry programme ... 11

Scouts learn water safety in Uganda ... 11

African SAR Coordinators meet ... 11

What keeps you awake at night? ... 12

Follow us ............................... 12

Send us your news & pictures ... 12

Dates for the Diary

European Regional Meeting 28-30 October 2015

Åland Islands For details, email [email protected]

MRO Training Course 30 November - 3 December 2015

with China MRCC and Shanghai Maritime University

Shanghai For details, email [email protected]

North and West Africa and West Africa SAR Regional Committee meetings February 2016 Details in due course

IMO Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications, Search & Rescue (NCSR) 29 February - 4 March 2016

IMO, London For details, email [email protected]

SAREXPO International 2016 1-3 March 2016

Palais Des Festivals, Cannes See www.sarexpo.com

ISAR 5th International SAR Conference 28-30 May 2016

Hyatt Regency, Chennai, India See www.globalsar.com.my

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 new Board meets

use these skills within the agreed role

of the Trustees has been a good step

in making the Board effective.

IMRF Strategy 2015-2019

The outgoing Board provided a new

Strategic Plan for their successors to

consider, focusing on how the organ-

isation can build on the successes and

evolution of recent years.

The incoming Trustees reviewed and

reaffirmed their support of the

strategy that was supported by the

IMRF Members when proposed at

the QGM in June.

Main points of the strategy are listed

below. See also the June and August

editions of LIFE LINE, available in the

newsletter archive on the IMRF website.

The IMRF’s new Board meets in Berlin:

(L-R:) Jorge Diena, Udo Fox, Rikke Lind,

Dean Lawrence, Mohammed Drissi, Zhang

Rongjun, James Vaughan, Matthew Fader

CEO Bruce Reid also attended – and not

just to take the picture! He writes:

1st October 2015, Berlin, Germany

was the dateline for the first meeting

of the new IMRF Board of Trustees,

elected at the Quadrennial General

Meeting held in June in Bremerhaven.

It was a really great meeting, which

confirmed the IMRF’s strategic frame-

work for the next four years, with

intensive discussions on not just

where we are going but how we are

going to get there.

Key points from the meeting

Work over the first day was focussed

on identifying the strengths and roles

of the new Board, and reviewing the

IMRF Strategic Plan 2015-2019.

Determining and agreeing the role of

the Trustees was teased out by

facilitator Tom Banks of Castlefirth in

the UK who had volunteered his time

to help run the first part of the two-

day meeting.

The group identified the following key

parts of their role:

o Provide leadership and strategy

o Set strategic priorities

o Provide the secretariat with the

right support and resources

o Monitor performance against the

strategy

Chairman Udo Fox summarised that

taking the time to understand the

variety of skills now present on the

Board had been an important

exercise. Identifying how we can best

Having a strategy is one thing, but

having a plan to implement the

strategy is another. There was

significant discussion at the Board

meeting on how to appropriately

resource the IMRF secretariat to

meet the current demand and future

requirements.

The IMRF vision is one of preventing

loss of life in the world’s waters by:

o promoting cooperation,

exchange of information, research

and development, advice and

consultancy between the maritime

SAR services of the world;

o encouraging and promoting

the formation and development of

maritime SAR services throughout

the world;

o promoting public education

and awareness regarding safety on

water.

The new strategy is held up by the

five pillars of sustainable funding;

representation, advocacy & support;

SAR development; commercial

services; and an effective IMRF.

The Trustees looked at each of these

pillars in turn to help establish a

common understanding of the

challenges and responsibilities, and

how delivering in these areas will

build the IMRF from where we are

today, making us more effective and

increasing our value to our members

and the maritime SAR sector.

An exercise of isolating each of the

pillars was done. Each area was

discussed at length to determine who

(continued on page 4)

Our Purpose and our Vision remain: to prevent loss of life, to promote safety, and to provide relief from disaster at sea and on inland waters throughout the world.

Globally, deaths at sea and safety issues tend to be defined around o transportation (ferries etc) o labour (working on the water) o personal safety

The international maritime SAR system is designed for the assistance of anyone in distress at sea. The IMRF should be similarly compre-hensive in outlook and activity.

What will the future IMRF look like?

The IMRF will be representative of the global SAR sector, a more widely-known and respected organisation able to influence policy at all levels.

Built on a foundation of knowledge and expertise, the IMRF will provide significant maritime SAR consultancy and support services.

Keywords?

Representation, advocacy, influence; support & development; sustainable funding; commercial services:

an effective IMRF.



(continued from page 3)

the customer is and what value is

derived. The outputs from this

exercise will be used to build the

implementation plan for the strategy.

Priority in the discussions was given to

sustainable funding.

Funding of the IMRF has traditionally

come from our Member organisations

through membership fees and

additional donations from a small

number of donors. The growth in

membership has not kept up with the

increasing activity and demand on the

IMRF, so it is time to change and build

a more sustainable and diverse

funding strategy.

At present the secretariat is not

resourced to address funding

strategically, with a requirement to

generate funds now to support

activity already underway. The

Trustees working with the CEO have

agreed that the development of the

fundraising strategy is a priority and

assistance would be provided to free

up the CEO to focus on this.

The Chairman, Udo Fox, summarised

that it takes time to make change and

that the IMRF is only now being

recognised by many in the wider

global SAR community as being able

to deliver value. Building support for

the secretariat is essential and is a key

priority for the Trustees.

As a footnote to these discussions the

membership does continue to grow.

An increasing number of governmental

organisations are choosing to join, in

recognition of the value the IMRF

provides at the International Maritime

Organization (IMO) in particular (see

page 5) and the increasing amount of

SAR development activity the IMRF is

involved in.

Day Two discussions

Key discussions on the second day of

the meeting focussed on the continuing

pressure on SAR services by the mixed

migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

The trustees were given overviews of

current and planned activity in the

Mediterranean by Rikke Lind,

Matthew Fader, James Vaughan and

Mohammed Drissi, all of whom have

had direct involvement in the region.

The IMRF now has eight member

organisations involved operationally

so discussion focussed on whether

there is a role for the IMRF to play in

helping coordinate. It was agreed

that the first activity needed to be a

discussion with all our Members

either already involved or with

potential to be involved in the future,

to establish common areas that could

benefit from coming under the IMRF

banner. Email [email protected] if you

would like to be part of this discussion.

Our members are engaged at both

governmental and non-governmental

level so there is no common model of

engagement at present. The IMRF

has kept engaged in discussions at

IMO and with UNHCR and the

International Organization for

Migration (IOM). We have also

relaunched the Members assisting

Members website, which is already

helping support the SAR members in

the region. See pages 8 & 9.

The Trustees noted that we need to

be careful to not lose sight of the

other big issues facing us. Over

357,000 people drown each year. The

current crisis in the Mediterranean is

commanding our attention – but

there are also an estimated 24,000

artisanal fishermen lost annually and

over 1,000 lives are lost on average

each year in ferry accidents. (See ‘SAR

Matters’, page 7.)

There is no doubt that we have to

continue to play a role in responding

to the Mediterranean crisis – and

maybe an expanded role – but it is

important that we continue to

advance the work being done in

Africa, the Asia-Pacific, the Americas

and the rest of Europe too.

Governance post-QGM 2015

The Board agreed that the World

Maritime Rescue Congress in

Bremerhaven in June had been a

great success, and noted the results

of the IMRF’s Quadrennial General

Meeting too, which had immediately

followed the Congress (see the August

edition of LIFE LINE for reports of both).

It was agreed that holding the two

events at the same time and venue is

very beneficial, as it enables more

IMRF Members to participate.

However (and even with the great

support provided by our hosts and an

enthusiastic team of volunteers) the

workload placed on the IMRF

secretariat was immense, and the

need for careful review is clear. The

Board began by reviewing the QGM

processes: in particular, following

feedback from Members, the IMRF

Board election process.

The secretariat have been asked to

review the process and provide initial

suggestions for future elections,

bearing in mind the changing

composition of the membership and

possible constitutional implications

of this; and voting allocations,

including proportional representation

concepts. With the next election four

years away the prioritisation of this

work will be subject to secretariat

workloads, but we will, of course,

keep the membership advised.

Trustees hard at work, day two…

© MOAS.eu



IMRF on the international stage

The IMRF has consultative status at the International

Maritime Organization – the IMO; the United Nations’

technical body responsible for shipping safety, including

maritime search and rescue. We represent maritime SAR

services, from mission coordinators to rescue boat crews,

at the international level.

A key part of the IMO’s work in respect of SAR is done in

conjunction with the International Civil Aviation Organiz-

ation (ICAO). IMO and ICAO jointly own the International

Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR)

Manual, the three volumes of which provide guidance to

State SAR authorities; to SAR Mission Coordinators, On

Scene Coordinators and Aircraft Coordinators; and to the

commanders of vessels and aircraft which respond to SAR

incidents. IMO and ICAO SAR experts meet in a Joint

Working Group each year, to discuss amendments to the

Manual (which is updated every three years) and to work

on other SAR matters referred to them by the two parent

organizations. This year’s meeting was held at Canadian

Forces Base Trenton, Ontario, in September. The IMRF’s

David Jardine-Smith attended.

It was a busy meeting for the Joint Working Group (JWG):

the IMRF alone submitted five papers, and supported a

sixth from Finland, and some 50 papers were considered in

all, on subjects ranging from aircraft tracking to future

alternatives to pyrotechnic distress signals. Here we report

on some of the meeting’s results. Further details will be

available on the IMRF website in due course.

The ICAO/IMO Joint Working Group at CFB Trenton

The IMRF reported to the Group the results of two of our

projects to date: our guidelines for rescue boats of less

than 24m length (that is, smaller than the lower limit

applicable to IMO regulations) and the IMRF’s mass rescue

operations project.

Our paper on the Rescue Boat Guidelines included Parts 1

& 2 and introduced Part 3 – the web-based tool: see www.

international-maritime-rescue.org/index.php/homerbg.)

The JWG welcomed the project and noted their support for

it in their report to IMO and ICAO.

The Group also expressed their thanks to the IMRF for the

The ICAO/IMO Joint

Working Group visits the

Joint Rescue Coordination

Centre at Trenton; into

whose SAR Region the

whole of western Europe

work done on mass

rescue operations, and

recommend that all

SAR service providers

make use of the online

resource library at www.

international-maritime-rescue.org/index.php/homemropublic.

The JWG will review the MRO guidance in the

forthcoming 2016 edition of the IAMSAR Manual to see if

changes are required in the light of our work, with a view

to making any necessary amendments in the 2019

edition. The JWG also noted the IMRF’s MRO workshop

package: see the website!

As remarked above, Volume III of the IAMSAR Manual is

intended to be used by vessels and aircraft on scene. The

Manual has developed piecemeal over the years, and we

suggested to the JWG that it is not particularly user-

friendly as a result. The JWG agreed, and have tasked us

to lead an international editorial group in reorganising

Volume III, ready for its 2019 edition.

We tabled Kiersten Sanders’ report, Ferry Accidents: the

Challenge of Rescue 2000-2015, which examines the SAR

responses to ferry accidents identified by the Worldwide

Ferry Safety Association (see page 7). We emphasised that

Kiersten’s report had to be largely compiled from informal

sources because of a lack of formal, published

investigation reports, and urged that such reports should

be made and shared. The JWG agreed, and noted that this

project was in line with the aim of establishing a global

repository of SAR information. The Group asked the IMRF

to continue to investigate the possibility of establishing

such a resource.

Finland provided the JWG with an update on their Vessel

Triage project (see LIFE LINE, October 2014, page 11). The

IMRF has supported this project, which seeks to improve

multi-responder understanding of the condition of a ship

involved in an accident, as an aid to SAR decision-making.

The JWG were uncertain as to whether vessel triage is

strictly a SAR tool. We believe that it is, in the sense that

maritime emergency response should be holistic – but the

value of the system does have to be understood for it to

be useful. More work is needed here, and our colleagues

in Finland are asking SAR services to trial the tool: please

visit www.raja.fi/vesseltriage.

fits, with a lot of

space to spare!



Mass rescue in the

Caribbean

The Caribbean Sea is a place

of contrasts: a variety of

beautiful islands favoured

by the sun, but sometimes

swept by hurricanes and

rocked by earthquakes too.

The people of the often tiny

island States in the region

are good at dealing with what

nature throws at them, and they make part of their living

from the tourists who come to sample island life. Many of

those tourists come in cruise ships.

The cruise industry is one of the safest forms of travel. But,

as we know, accidents happen, and a cruise ship accident,

although of low probability, will have major consequences.

Ships are getting bigger: some sailing in the Caribbean can

already carry over 8,000 people, and larger ships are

building. A SAR incident involving that many people will

constitute a mass rescue operation (MRO) wherever it

occurs – but small States, with necessarily limited

resources, will struggle to cope, and can be overwhelmed.

The rarity of such emergencies makes the job harder. A

region subject to hurricanes each year can develop

sophisticated responses to that threat, but no-one can

justify maintaining resources capable of dealing readily with

a maritime MRO. There will be what the IMRF MRO project

team calls a ‘capability gap’. A successful response to such a

rare but challenging event depends on the relevant

planners finding ways of filling that gap.

At the end of September representatives of British

Overseas Territories – mostly from the Caribbean –

gathered in Miami for an inter-island MRO planning

workshop, organised by the British Consulate and

facilitated by MRO experts from the United States Coast

Guard. Representatives of the shipping industry, including

Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and Disney Cruises, also took

part; as did David Jardine-Smith, the IMRF’s

MRO project manager.

The Coast Guard team, led by Paul Culver

(who masterminded Exercise Black Swan in

the Bahamas in 2013: see LIFE LINE, June

2013, available for free download from the

newsletter archive at www.international-

maritime-rescue.org) ran a really excellent

event over four days, combining

presentations with workshop sessions and

concluding with a lively tabletop exercise.

Teams from Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands,

the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, and

Turks and Caicos considered a range of subjects, focussing

on the possible impacts of an MRO on their territories.

They were asked to:

review operational procedures related to the

notification process to ensure all vital stakeholders

receive timely and accurate incident information, and

identify areas for improvement

evaluate landing sites to ensure safety and

effectiveness for an MRO, and identify country-specific

processes to account for rescued personnel and for

fatalities

review recomm-

ended elements of an

MRO management org-

anisation and identify

command responsib-

ilities, personnel and

the required skills

evaluate the effectiveness of identified reception

centres, including operational flows, and review recomm-

ended procedures.

The tabletop exercise,

which saw the remorse-

less advance of 2,400

people in lifeboats and

rescue vessels toward

a receiving port, was an

opportunity to consider

lessons learned during

the workshop. Particip-

ants enthusiastically role-played the Incident Command

System suggested by the IMO.

At the close of the workshop the various teams were asked

to list the main learning points they would be taking away

with them. One example neatly summarises them all:

o We need an MRO plan integrated with existing plans

o It’s critical to select the right people for each function

o A comprehensive understanding of

the command system is required

o We need to identify, and plan with,

the resources available

o Cruise companies’ response capa-

bilities need to be better understood

o Regional MoUs are required, to

access assets not available nationally

o We need to understand the

operational planning and logistical

objectives for both offshore and

onshore mass rescue operations.



SAR Matters

This column provides a forum for LIFE LINE readers

worldwide to contribute to debate on any SAR issue. Have

a look at previous discussions in our Newsletter Archive,

online at www.international-maritime-rescue.org: every

LIFE LINE since 2010 is available there for free download.

You can join in the debate by emailing [email protected].

It’s good to talk!

In this edition we have a look at the continuing problem of

domestic ferry safety.

The ongoing ferry disaster

We noted in the August 2015 edition of LIFE LINE (available

from the online newsletter archive) that the Worldwide

Ferry Safety Association (WFSA) have analysed ferry

accidents between 2000 and 2014 from around the world.

They report that there were over 17,000 fatalities in ferry

accidents in this period, with developing world nations

accounting for 95% of them.

Often when people think of passenger vessel accidents

they think of cases that have hit world headlines, such as

the grounding of the cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012,

or the fire aboard the ferry Norman Atlantic in the last days

of 2014. These were major accidents and major SAR cases,

of course – but most passenger ferry accidents are not so

well reported, or, it seems, investigated, as the IMRF’s

Kiersten Sander found when she set out to research the

SAR responses to the accidents the WFSA had identified.

(Kiersten’s report may be found at http://international-

maritime-rescue.org/index.php/list-of-categories/file/989-

search-rescue-response-to-ferry-accidents-common-problems-

potential-solutions-good-practice-by-kiersten-sander.)

Passenger ships trading internationally are

subject to rules agreed at the International

Maritime Organization – the IMO. These rules set out

minimum standards for the construction, equipment and

operation of ships, as well as the training of their crews. But

they do not apply to domestic ferries: ships and boats vital

to local communities, the regulation of which is the

responsibility of local Governments alone. Far too often,

local standards are set too low or are not enforced – and

vessel operators say that anyway they can only make a

living by breaking the rules, for their customers cannot

afford the higher fares that improved safety provision

would necessitate.

The latter argument may be morally unjustifiable in

general – but individual operators cannot be expected to

act alone. This is a hard reality with which we must engage.

The IMRF’s role is to help improve maritime search and

rescue globally. We define ‘maritime’ loosely, for the

problems of major river and lake traffic have much in

common with problems encountered at sea. We also

recognise that ‘SAR’ is the end of a longer process. You

can only rescue someone after you have found them. To

find them alive, they have to be able to let you know that

they are in trouble, and to survive until you can get to

them; which implies the need for equipment and training.

But the best way of ensuring that people’s lives are not

threatened is to try to prevent accidents happening in the

first place. SAR will always be needed in some

circumstances – but we certainly support any initiative

that means it will be needed less!

We therefore strongly support recent moves at the IMO

to address domestic ferry safety, even if such shipping is

strictly beyond the IMO’s remit. The Secretary-General,

Koji Sekimizu, has called for a new approach, and has

announced the IMO’s intention to strengthen its

technical assistance programme to this end. He has also

proposed the development of recommended standards

for domestic passenger ferries, to cover design,

engineering, structural modifications, operation,

manning, training, and survey and certification.

The Philippines Government hosted a conference on the

subject in Manila in April of this year. This resulted in the

Manila Statement on Enhancement of the Safety of Ships

Carrying Passengers on Non-International Voyages. The

Statement urges States to work with other stakeholders

on the problem, with the “long-term objective” of aligning

national requirements with those of

the relevant IMO Conventions. The

Manila Statement also recommends

the use of guidelines finalised by the

conference and asks for feedback;

and the IMO has now endorsed this

approach.

Meanwhile the WFSA continue to encourage improved

safety from the design perspective, with their third

student design competition for a safe, affordable ferry.

This year’s challenge is to design a RoPax ferry for

Indonesia: see www.ferrysafetydesigncompetition.org.

The ‘ongoing disaster’ of passenger ferry accidents must

be tackled holistically. The IMRF will continue to work

with both WFSA and IMO, in support of our shared aim of

saving lives on the world’s waters.

(See also ‘Mass Rescue in Singapore’, page 10, and ‘Vietnam’s

Safe Ferry programme’, page 11.)



MOAS prepares to expand its mission

SAR charity, and IMRF Member, Migrant Offshore Aid

Station (MOAS – see www.moas.eu) will soon set sail for

South East Asia to expand its lifesaving mission to another

region of the world currently facing large-scale refugee

movements by sea.

“Our job in the

Mediterranean is not

over,” says MOAS

founder Christopher

Catrambone, “But

we now feel it is our

responsibility over

the winter months

to use our motor

yacht, Phoenix, in

another part of the

world facing an

equally challenging

but severely under-

reported crisis.”

Since commencing

operations in 2014,

MOAS has saved

more than 11,500

men, women and children from the Mediterranean Sea.

The Phoenix has now returned to her base in Malta to

prepare for a month-long journey to the Bay of Bengal.

“MOAS has helped establish a robust search and rescue

presence in the Mediterranean, which today sees a

number of publicly and privately funded vessels working

to stop preventable deaths,” says Mr Catrambone. By

transferring its high-profile action to the Bay of Bengal,

MOAS will be shedding light on another aspect of this

pressing global phenomenon in an area where there is no

known non-Governmental rescue presence at sea. “Once

the monsoon rains subside, tens of thousands of

displaced Rohingya and others are expected to resume

their dangerous sea crossings,” he added.

MOAS director Martin Xuereb said: “MOAS will continue

to monitor the situation closely throughout the autumn

and winter months and plans to resume its

Mediterranean operation next year. We thank our

partners Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without

Borders) for their invaluable support in providing post-

rescue care aboard the Phoenix throughout the summer.”

Watch for the December edition of LIFE LINE, which will

include an article by IMRF Trustee James Vaughan on

an inspirational visit to MOAS in Malta

UNHCR urges States to help avert Bay of

Bengal boat crisis

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees (UNHCR), more than 1,100 Bangladeshis and

Rohingyas drowned in the Indian Ocean between January

2014 and June 2015, and the number of

attempted crossings is expected to

increase. UNHCR is calling for urgent

action before the end of the monsoon

season unleashes a new wave of people

leaving on boats from the Bay of Bengal.

UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming

told a press briefing in Geneva that, in the

first six months of this year, some 31,000 Rohingyas and

Bangladeshis departed from the Bay on smugglers' boats.

This marks a 34-percent increase over the same period last

year, and brings to 94,000 the estimated number of

people who have risked their lives making the dangerous

voyage since 2014.

Survivors interviewed by UNHCR detail long and difficult

journeys by land and sea, and often claim to have been

towed or guided by authorities from one territorial water

to another. At least 5,000 people were abandoned at sea

by smugglers in May and eventually disembarked in

Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Another 1,000 people remain unaccounted for but may

have disembarked without the knowledge of the

authorities. At least 70 people are estimated to have died

on the boats that were abandoned in May.

Of those disembarked, most of the Bangladeshi nationals

have been assisted home with the support of their

government. The Rohingya, who cannot return to

Myanmar at the moment, remain in the countries in which

they were landed. UNHCR's appeal for $13m to respond

and seek solutions to the recent maritime crisis is only 20%

funded. More funds are needed to enhance protection

interventions for the Rohingya population in host

countries, and to meet the humanitarian, human rights

and development needs in source countries.

With the next "sailing season" expected to start soon

UNHCR is working on an information campaign warning

potential travellers of the risks of getting on smugglers'

boats. At the regional level, said Ms Fleming, more must

be done to put systems in place to respond to the need for

rescue at sea and for safe and predictable disembarkation.

UNHCR looks forward to the establishment of a task force

and is also participating in global discussions on migration

and human mobility, including mixed movements by sea

of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.

The 40m yacht Phoenix carries two

6-metre rigid inflatables and a

Schiebel Camcopter S-100 unmanned

aerial vehicle, shown flying astern.

Operated by Schiebel personnel, the

UAV is launched from the ship to

locate and identify boats in distress,

providing imagery in real-time, day

and night, including under adverse

weather conditions. The Rescue Co-

ordination Centre is then informed

and arranges help as necessary,

including from the Phoenix herself.



Member Focus: Supporting global SAR development

The IMRF have been approached by a number of rescue

services in the Mediterranean who are struggling to keep

up with the replacement of equipment being used to

rescue the flood of migrants into their waters.

To help coordinate this, we have relaunched our

Members Assisting Members website, to help identify

need and connect those who can help.

The Hellenic Rescue Team of 2,000 volunteer rescuers in

Greece are looking for lifejackets, helmets, dry suits and

equipment for their boats, as well as hoping to increase

their response capability by securing some additional 6-

10m rescue boats. With a massive increase in call-outs

due to rescuing migrants in distress on their waters,

supplies are getting low and fundraising in Greece is

difficult at present.

It is a similar story for the team at the Migrant Offshore

Aid Station (MOAS), who have extended their patrols (see

page 8) and are starting to feel the squeeze. With close to

8,000 people rescued already this year the team are

needing to replace VHF radios, helmets and SAR

lifejackets for their crew.

The German rescuers Sea Watch are also in need of

lifejackets and inflatable rafts to help keep the people

afloat until rescue services arrive.

“The increasing number of migrants and refugees, who

are fleeing countries on overcrowded, often unsafe

vessels, is clearly having an impact on the resources and

capability of Mediterranean rescue services,” says Bruce

Reid, the IMRF’s CEO.

“The rescuers themselves need urgent help and we

are reaching out to the maritime SAR community to

get their support – mainly for equipment.”

Georgios Kalogeropoulos from the Hellenic Rescue Team

says that the work of their volunteers in Mytilini, Samos

and Kos has intensified in the last few months. “Our

branch in Mytilini took part in 141 SAR missions from

February through to the end of May, while our station in

Samos has helped more than 110 SAR missions from

January to the end of May.”

George adds that volunteers in Kos have participated in

more than 70 missions in the last year and that 60,000

refugees had arrived in Mytilini, Kos, Lesvos and Samos in

the past six months.

Davide De Bernardin of MOAS notes that their rescues are

always conducted in the safest and most professional way,

but he has written to the IMRF because the latest rescues

are becoming even more perilous and there is a new

requirement for equipment.

“There is still need of us out there and things are not going

to change any time soon. We will be on station as long as

is financially possible,” Davide added.

Harald Hoppner, founder of Sea Watch says: “In what was

only the organisation’s second coordinated SAR patrol in

the Central Mediterranean, the vessel took part in five

rescue operations in as many days. We rendered

assistance to over 600 people during this period utilising

all the available SAR equipment at our disposal – including

6 x 65 person life rafts.

“The Organisation now needs to replenish its stocks and

we would be most grateful if you could assist with the

procurement of rafts. Specifically we deployed with the

Beaufort 130 ORL life raft, which we found to be very

reliable and practicable in the circumstances.”

CAN YOU HELP?

Members Assisting Members is a ‘Post Board’ for IMRF

Members and IMRF Guests. Using the board you can

request, offer, exchange, sell and/or buy equipment,

services, training & education and support. The aim is

simple: to help each other and to prevent loss of life in the

world’s waters. Visit www.international-maritime-

rescue.org and click the link. (photos ©MOAS.eu)



incident escalating to the point that

an MRO is required. The exercise

aims were to raise awareness of

common MRO problems, and

potential solutions; to enable

discussion of the participating

organisations’ MRO response roles

and capabilities, and to further

inform the IMRF’s MRO project.

The exercise advanced in stages. An

initial scenario was presented and

the working groups considered a

number of questions arising from it.

The scenario was then advanced to

the next stage, with further

questions and discussion; and so on.

Accidents of this kind do unfortunately

occur in these waters, and the lively

and fully engaged discussion between

the organisations attending the

workshop – from Singapore, Brunei

Darussalam, China, Japan, Malaysia,

Mongolia, Norway, the Philippines,

and Thailand – is likely to lead to

improved response in future.

Overall it was agreed that we can,

and must, plan for mass rescue

operations – and that effective

communications at all levels are

crucial to the success of those plans.

Response agencies have planned in-

house for the ‘routine’ incident, but

also need to work together in

preparation for more complex ones.

“In the end, being rescued from a

large passenger vessel will always

involve improvisation, but the

success and effectiveness of this

improvisation is determined by

thorough planning”

Mass rescue in Singapore

IMRF Chief Executive Bruce Reid writes:

The IMRF attended a Maritime Safety

Forum organised by the Maritime

and Ports Authority of Singapore in

August, facilitating a simulated mass

rescue operations (MRO) exercise run

by IMRF Associates Transas and the

Wavelink Maritime Institute, and

running a regional MRO workshop.

Gu Yiming of the IMRF’s Asia-Pacific

Regional Centre handled the logistics,

and John Geel of IMRF Members the

Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue

Institution (KNRM), and an IMRF

MRO subject-matter expert, ran the

workshop.

On the bridge at Wavelink

The simulation involved a collision

between two passenger vessels.

Delegates were able to take part from

two responding vessels’ bridges, a

patrol boat and a small tanker.

The exercise demonstrated how

multiple simulators can be used to

train and prepare people for these

large-scale incidents. It also provided

a water-based perspective for many

of the delegates who have office-

based roles. Delegates were invited

to get involved with communication,

navigation and helming the ships.

Navigating waters filled with debris,

people and rafts demonstrated the

complexity of this sort of accident.

As usual in IMRF’s MRO workshops, a

simple tabletop exercise was

conducted, with mixed working

groups considering a mass rescue

scenario based on a fictitious cruise

ship bound for Singapore from Hong

Kong that gets into difficulty, with the

News from the APRC

The past six months have been busy

for the small but hard-working team

at the IMRF’s Asia-Pacific Regional

Centre, who have coordinated a

number of events to help improve

maritime SAR in the region.

Immediately following the World

Maritime Rescue Congress the team

ran the International Yachting Safety

and Rescue Forum in China as part of

the Shanghai International Marine

Festival. (See LIFE LINE, August 2015.)

The 4th APRC Board Meeting was

held in July. The Board reviewed the

activity through the APRC and were

pleased with the good progress

made in building membership and

delivering the agreed meetings and

training laid out in the work plan.

China Rescue and Salvage and the

Donghai Rescue Bureau discussed

the continued support available to

the APRC through the provision of

office space in Shanghai and the staff

manning the office. There are plans

for more visits in the region to help

raise the APRC’s profile.

Discussions have been held with new

members Düsseldorf Exhibition (China),

aiming to provide an increased profile

for lifesaving and water-based activity

safety in the developing Chinese

recreational boating market. A

memorandum of understanding was

signed with managing director Axel

Bartkus, who expressed his excite-

ment at the prospect of working with

the IMRF to bring experience and

knowledge to this market.

In August the Regional Mass Rescue

Operations Workshop was held in

Singapore (see left) and a further

MRO workshop is planned for

November this year, in Shanghai.

For further information please visit:

www.international-maritime-

rescue.org/index.php/homeaprc



Vietnam’s Safe Ferry

programme

Recent research by IMRF intern

Kiersten Sander into the response to

ferry accidents around the world (see

page 7) uncovered a great story of

community action in Vietnam to

promote safer ferry travel.

In January 2009, when people were

shopping to prepare for the

traditional new year, a ferry carrying

80 passengers and cargo across the

Gianh River in Quang Binh province

capsized, killing 42.

The tragedy motivated local young

people to volunteer to help improve

the safety of these ferry crossings.

With support from the Ho Chi Minh

Communist Youth Union a ferry

station was established manned by

10 of the youth members, initially

paid but now volunteering. They are

working with local operators to

improve safety by encouraging the

wearing of lifejackets by all

passengers and preventing over-

loading of the vessels.

Many passengers were initially

unwilling to wear the lifejackets but

through the patience and good will of

the young volunteers the compliance

rate has increased and the safety of

those using the ferries has improved.

The programme has now expanded

to 30 other provinces (mostly in the

Central and Mekong Delta Regions)

and is linking wharf owners with ferry

operators to raise awareness of the

risks and improve compliance with

safety regulations. More than 1500

young people are now volunteering

to support the programme.

Scouts learn water safety

in Uganda

Austin Andemani of Royal Life Saving

Society Uganda writes:

100 years of scouting in Uganda was

celebrated in August at Kaazi

National Camping sites by Lake

Victoria. The event brought together

more than 15,000 scouts from

Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Southern

Sudan, DRC, Libya, Uruguay and the

UK, with leaders and staff from many

more countries.

Various activities took place at the

event, including a water safety

presentation by Royal Life Saving

Society (RLSS) Uganda, whose team

was also part of the rescue team.

Many of the participants gave their

experiences related to drowning. A

scout leader from Iganga told how

someone was drowning and he was

the only one in the area. Since he had

no water safety knowledge, he could

only throw a stick to the victim, who,

unfortunately, died. A Rwandan

scout told how he was almost taken

by a river current, but was rescued by

his friends using a cow’s rope.

Because the swimming pool was not

yet in use and the nearby lakeshore

was assessed as too risky, the RLSS

practices were done on dry land.

Many of the scouts and leaders

appreciated the training, and have

requested RLSS Uganda volunteers to

go and train their scouts in their own

districts, especially those living near

bodies of water.

Funding is being sought to enable this

to happen.

African Regional SAR

Coordinators meet

IMRF Trustee Mohammed Drissi and

CEO Bruce Reid attended the first

Africa Regional SAR Coordinator

meeting in Casablanca in September.

The meeting was hosted by the

Ministry of Agriculture and Marine

Fisheries, Morocco, and facilitated

by the International Maritime

Organization (IMO) and the IMRF. It

brought together Regional SAR

Coordinators and observers from

Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco,

Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa.

The meeting discussed common

challenges. These include funding

constraints; inadequate SAR facilities

and resources; communications with

other regional Rescue Coordination

Centres (RCCs); language difficulties,

English not being standard; SAR

training; planning for mass rescue

operations; logistics; over-reliance

on other parties to conduct SAR;

difficulties in contacting the artisanal

fishermen who present the major

SAR problem; difficulties in

maintaining and upgrading equip-

ment, including software, and delays

in repairs; and difficulties in driving

the regional agenda forward.

Addressing these issues, the coord-

inators agreed to initiate monthly

inter-RCC communications tests, and

to consider expanding liaison to

include RCCs, in line with the African

Maritime Charter. IMRF’s work in

north & west Africa was discussed,

and the sharing of results agreed;

and training courses will be

compared with a view to establishing

a standard for Africa as a whole.



LIFE LINE

Follow us...

Social media are now a part of life in

many respects. In the February 2015

edition of LIFE LINE IMRF’s Chief

Executive, Bruce Reid, discussed the

pressures that news and social media

can place on SAR response (see the

newsletter archive on the website.)

“Never before,” wrote Bruce, “Has

the maritime SAR sector been as

exposed or visible as it is today.

Seconds after incidents occur texts

are sent, photos uploaded and

opinions posted… Instant media are

now a fact of life. We must plan

specifically to engage with them.”

‘Engagement’ is a two-way process.

The IMRF is increasingly using social

media to help keep people up to date

with what we ourselves are doing.

Have a look at www.facebook.com/

internationalmaritimerescuefederation,

for example, or https://twitter.com/

IMRF.

There are lively conversations going on.

So: copy & paste the links. Follow us – see

where we’re going!

A good night’s rest all round seems

to be what’s wanted! But how is that

to be achieved when, as the world

warms and the northern waterways

open up further each summer, more

and more ships can be expected to

head north – on ‘adventure’ cruises

like Crystal Serenity, or to save

valuable passage time? (See ‘Into the

Arctic’, LIFE LINE, August 2014; available

in the newsletter archive on the IMRF

website, www.international-maritime-

rescue.org.)

Vice Commandant of the Coast

Guard, Charles D. Michel, spoke of

the need for cooperation in the face

of Arctic challenges.

“The Coast Guard has always existed

in a partnership type format – but it

becomes increasingly important

here in the Arctic and Alaska because

of the great distances involved, the

weather, and the tremendous

logistics, communications and

navigation challenges. Virtually

everything up here is done by

partnership,” says the Vice

Commandant. “The Coast Guard can

do almost none of this on its own.”

Which is something common to all of

us in SAR around the world. The

opening Arctic is far from being the

only ‘area remote from SAR

facilities’, as the IMO puts it, where a

mass rescue operation hardly bears

thinking about.

Yet think about it we must. Visit

www.international-maritime-

rescue.org/index.php/homemropublic

What keeps you awake

at night...?

For Rear Admiral Daniel Abel,

United States Coast Guard 17th

District Commander, it’s the

Coast Guard Cutter Healy. The

ship is pictured here at the North Pole,

which she reached on 5 September.

Admiral Abel, speaking at a

conference in Alaska, explained that

the vessel is there on her own, in a

hostile area. There is no buddy

system for her and “there’s nothing

with a US flag that is going to come

save her” if difficulties arise.

Admiral Abel was speaking in the

context of a discussion about fleet

availability and capability in the far

North. However, the Coast Guard’s

director of marine transportation

systems, Gary Rasicot, told reporters

at the conference that it is Crystal

Cruises’ Crystal Serenity that disturbs

his sleep.

In August next year, Crystal Serenity

will sail from Seward, Alaska, through

the Canadian Arctic, to Greenland

and then New York with 1,050

passengers and 650 crew members

on board. The cruise is fully booked.

“As a Coast Guardsman,” said Mr

Rasicot, “I don’t want a repeat of the

Titanic, and we need to make sure

that we think this through. I want to

make sure that those 1,700 people,

when they lay their head on the

pillow at night, will rest assured that

if something bad happens we’ll be

able to respond.”

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 october 2015 - english

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