Co-ordinate search and rescue operations
Co-ordinate search and rescue operations
National and regional SAR system organization
Many States have accepted the obligation to provide aeronautical and maritime SAR coordination and services on a 24-hour basis for their territories, territorial seas, and where appropriate, the high seas.
- To carry out these responsibilities, States have established national SAR organizations, or joined one or more other States to form a regional SAR organization associated with an ocean area or continent.
- A search and rescue region (SRR) is an area of defined dimensions associated with a rescue coordination centre (RCC) within which SAR services are provided.
- SRRs help to define who has primary responsibility for coordinating responses to distress situations in every area of the world, but they are not intended to restrict anyone from assisting persons in distress
- The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regional air navigation plans (RANPs) depict aeronautical SRRs
- The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Global SAR Plan depicts maritime SRRs.
Ship reporting systems and vessel tracking
- Ship reporting systems have been established by several States.
- Ships at sea may be the only craft near the scene of a distressed aircraft or vessel.
- A ship reporting system enables the SMC to quickly:
- Identify vessels in the vicinity of a distress situation, along with their positions, courses, and speeds
- Be aware of other information about the vessels which may be valuable (whether a doctor is on board, etc.)
- Know how to contact the vessels
- Improve the likelihood of rapid aid during emergencies
- Reduce the number of calls for assistance to vessels unfavourably located to respond
- Reduce the response time to provide assistance.
- Masters of vessels are urged or mandated to send regular reports to the authority operating a ship reporting system for SAR and other safetyrelated services.
- Additional information on operators of ship reporting systems may be obtained from RCCs.
- Automatic identification system (AIS) and long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) transmissions are also important for providing shore authorities with real or near real time vessel tracking data to support search and rescue.
Amver
Amver is one of many ship reporting systems. It is a world-wide system operated exclusively to support SAR and make information available to all RCCs.
- There is no charge for vessels to participate in, nor for RCCs to use, Amver.
- Many land-based providers of communications services world-wide relay ship reports to Amver free of charge.
- Any merchant vessel of 1,000 gross tonnes or more on any voyage of greater than 24 h is welcome to participate.
- Information voluntarily provided by vessels to Amver is protected by the US Coast Guard as commercial proprietary data and made available only to SAR authorities or others specifically authorized by the ship involved.
Underwater search and rescue
- In the event a mobile facility has reason to suspect that an underwater accident has occurred, every effort should be made to contact the nearest rescue coordination centre. When accidents occur, survivors may be either on the surface or entrapped in a submarine resting on the seabed. Generally, medical care requirements for survivors of an underwater or submarine accident is specialized and competent medical advice is required.
- Vessels believing they have collided with a submarine, as with a collision with any vessel, should anticipate a requirement to provide SAR assistance. Further information on submarine SAR and its parallel activity, submarine escape and rescue, may be found at the website maintained by the International Submarine Escape and Rescue Liaison Office.
