The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has requested Mr Andre Botes – MRCC Cape Town Head of Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) Operations, to chair a Working Group for the IMO Communications subcommittee for SAR.

Mr Botes has been involved in Search and Rescue operations in South Africa for 39 years and his distinguished career includes coordinating the search for the SAA Boeing “Helderberg” and being senior SAR co-ordination for the passenger liner the “Oceanos”, for which he received an international award.

He joined the South African Air Force in 1966 as a pupil pilot and received his wings the same year. He retired from the SAAF in 1996. In 1998 he joined the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) as head of Maritime SAR Operations.

In 2004 Mr Botes opened the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town and immediately begun establishing it as the Regional MRCC for Southern Africa in terms of the IMO Florence resolution.

The Regional MRCC was officially opened by the Secretary General of the IMO in January 2007 and continues to operate.

Over the past few days the Maritime Rescue and Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) has been involved in evacuating crewmembers from two vessels.

On Friday the 4th December at 15h49 the master of a vessel, which was only 18 nautical miles off Cape Town, contacted the MRCC requesting a medical evacuation for a crewmember with symptoms resembling a mild stroke. The vessel diverted to Cape Town port and the MRCC co-coordinated the evacuation with the Metro Rescue services and the ships agent to transfer the crewmember to hospital at 18h37 on Friday evening.

The second medical evacuation was on Sunday 6 December when the MRCC Cape Town was contacted at 6am by a ship, the Stolt Sapphire, which was 170 nautical miles east of Richards By. The crewmember was unconscious in what the master suspected was a diabetic coma. An Oryx helicopter was dispatched from Durban and arrived at the scene at 14h22 however the crewmember was confirmed dead at 14h30.

The international Cospas-Sarsat programme provides distress and location data to help Search and Rescue (SAR) authorities assist people in distress in the shortest time possible, which directly impacts on the survival rate of the person in distress at sea or on land.

To discuss and achieve this objective, Cospas-Sarsat participants (of which South Africa is one) recently held a meeting in Canada.

Under discussion were the operational issues of implementation, maintenance and co-ordination of a satellite system capable of detecting distress alert transmissions from radio beacons globally that comply with Cospas-Sarsat specifications. In order to ensure compatibility internationally, Cospas-Sarsat co-operates with the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and other international organizations.

Workshop in Argentina regarding “Improved Search and Rescue in the Antarctic”

A workshop that focused on “Improved Search and Rescue in the Antarctic” was held in November in Buenos Aires, Argentina and was attended by the 5 nations who are responsible for SAR in the Antarctic region – namely Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa. The Council of Manager of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP) and the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) also attended the meeting.

The increase in maritime and air traffic over Antarctica is a major concern – In particular the large passenger vessels, whose rescue would require considerable assets and resources to the Rescue Coordination Centers (RCC) and the various vessels and research programmes that they support.

The overall objective of the meeting was:

• To continue improving Search and Rescue coordination and response in the Antarctic.
• Taking the “Search” out of Search and Rescue
• Dealing with a mass rescue operation as could be required for a large passenger vessel.
• Review current aeronautical traffic and weather forecasting services as aircraft are often key components of response to land-based distress situations.
• Understanding the challenges of land SAR and to discuss options to improve land SAR co-ordination and response capabilities

Recommendations included considering the adoption of a Resolution that incorporates the following relevant Recommendations:

• Maintaining up to date information on all stations, ground facilities, ships and aircraft.
• Providing advance information on ship and aircraft schedules
• All Antarctic ships make their positions available to the MRCC of the region in which they are navigating.
• The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties encourage ships to liaise with vessels they encounter in the area to promote the use of position reporting systems.

The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) recently ran a planning exercise for Search and Rescue (SAR) at their Cape Town offices.
The aim of the exercise was to test the operational readiness of the MRCC to respond to any emergency situations that may arise with the expected increased number of ships that are expected to be operating within our waters over the next year as part of the preparations and also accommodation for the 2010 soccer world cup.

The exercise focused on a search for a reefer vessel lost at sea.

A South African Air force aircraft was requested to assist in the search and the relaying of emergency messages was broadcast via Cape Town Radio.

The exercise ran over a period of 24 hours and the search area spanned from the Indian Ocean to the mid Atlantic region of the South African search and rescue region of responsibility. There was no physical deployment – it was a “C3” exercise – Command Control Communication.

The main aim was for the MRCC to take the information available to them and pass it on to the correct SAR bodies. The simulated search was successful and the vessel was located.

The exercise highlighted the importance of regular Search and Rescue (SAR) operations training and will be used as a master plan for training opportunities that new recruits and associated search and rescue role-players will benefit from. Later this month an international exercise will take place between the South African MRCC and their Argentinean counterparts.

This joint exercise forms part of bilateral agreements on search and rescue between the two countries as they share a common search and rescue border.

The importance of having communication with family or friends when at sea was once again highlighted recently.

Earlier this month the Mossel Bay Harbour Master contacted the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town about a phone call that he had received from the wife of the skipper regarding an incident off the coast of Madagascar.

The skipper of the yacht had contacted his wife via his SatPhone informing her that his yacht, the Erica, had run aground off the west coast of Madagascar. He was on a life raft with the EPIRB onboard.

The MRCC Cape Town attempted to inform the MRCC Madagascar, however due to language difficulties and equipment failure in Madagascar they could not be contacted. The MRCC contacted the South African embassy in Madagascar who gave them contact details of someone at the Nossi Be yacht club who would be able to assist them in their search and rescue mission. Fortunately there were yachts in the area that immediately headed towards the life raft.

At the same time the South African Embassy staff assisted in mobilizing the Madagascar SAR authorities which dispatched a coastguard vessel to assist the yacht crew. The crew was rescued off the yacht’s life-raft which had been tied to a mangrove tree. They were met by the South African embassy staff in Nossi Be, Madagascar.