AFRAS Newsletter  Fall, 2001

Letter from the President

We had a marvelous awards ceremony this year - many said it was the best ever. This was such an uplifting experience for all, since it was squeezed into that narrow window between the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 and the current scares arising from the threat of Anthrax. It was really a triumph with two great awardees in BM3 Carola, USCG and Captain Toledo of the M/V Chevron Washington; a very nice showing by Members of Congress; and other VIP's -- particularly those from the rescue services Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Iceland Search and Rescue (ICESAR) and the Canadian Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary. Unfortunately, due to the difficulties of air travel during this period, several other important international delegations had to cancel their trips.

Your board of directors also approved some important initiatives the morning of the Awards Ceremony. First, we elected strong new members to the board in Captain Gabriel Kinney III, USCG (Ret.), Jim Corry, Ed O'Brien of Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Chief Warrant Officer Scott Clendenin, USCG (Ret.). All have extensive hands-on experience with search and rescue. We also voted Mr. Sip Wiebenga, director of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij (KNRM) and Mrs. Alexandra Greenspon, administrator of Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR), to our International Advisory Group.
AFRAS has also undertaken two important new initiatives. We are working closely with the USCG, the USCG Auxiliary, and VISAR to foster the creation of a federation of rescue services in the Caribbean. This will permit AFRAS and the International Lifeboat Federation (ILF) to work more effectively with many of these smaller rescue services and will encourage them to join the ILF and participate in regional conferences on equipment, training, and operations. Both the RNLI and KNRM-- as well as the USCG-- which have active training and support programs in the Caribbean, strongly support this initiative.
We are also working to provide support to the Search and Rescue (SAR) club at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. This group of some 30 cadets has completed extensive training in SAR and has been mobilized on several occasions to participate in major operations. They provided logistics support at the World Trade Center. Under this initiative, Mass Maritime will identify to AFRAS its equipment and training needs and we will work to raise funds to meet those requirements.

With these new board members and these initiatives in place, we believe AFRAS is ready to move smartly towards an expansion of its membership to include many who are practitioners of SAR as well as to reach into the ranks of our merchant mariners. We also hope to expand our programs to provide support to rescue services in the Caribbean which answer the call when Americans get in trouble in those waters. We are not moving away from the RNLI. They will continue to receive our support and in fact have been encouraging us to do more to help in areas such as the Caribbean. We just believe it is time to broaden our horizons.

John Chomeau

AFRAS held its annual Gold Medal/AMVER award ceremony 3 October on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. This year the event was co-hosted by Representatives Frank LoBiondo, Chairman, Coast Guard and Transportation sub-committee and Howard Coble, co-Chairman, Congressional Coast Guard Caucus. Admiral James Gracey, AFRAS Chairman presented the Gold Medal Award to Michael Carola, Boatswain's Mate Third Class and the AMVER plaque to the captain and crew of M/V CHEVRON WASHINGTON.

Present at the reception and addressing the group were the Honorable Norman Y. Minetta, Secretary of Transportation, Representative William Delahunt, 10^th Congressional District of Massachusetts and Admiral James M. Loy, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. Also present were Representatives Virgil Goode, Ed Schrock, Walter Jones and Roscoe Bartlett.

Foreign representatives attending included Andrew Freemantle and Ian Ventham of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) of Great Britain; Steve Daust of the Canadian Coast Guard; Jean Beaton of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary; and Jon Gunnarson and Kristbjorn Oli Gudmundsson of ICESAR in Iceland. The reception was made possible by a grant from Maritime Rescue International (MRI) in Scotland.

The Gold Medal presentation was established by the association's first chairman, Vice Admiral Thomas Sargent III, a former Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. The medal is presented annually to an enlisted Coast Guard person for an act of extraordinary bravery during a rescue at sea. AMVER (Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System) is a voluntary, worldwide ship reporting system, which is operated by the United States Coast Guard and involves ships from over 130 nations. AFRAS awarded its first plaque to an AMVER vessel involved in an outstanding rescue in 1996. Nominations for both awards are made by the USCG's Search and Rescue Division.

Gold Medal Award

Gold Medal awardee Michael Carola is cited for heroic achievement while serving as crewman aboard Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat 47201 (MLB) during the rescue of seven passengers from the fishing boat LITTLE FLY FISHERMAN. The vessel sank shortly after striking the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge on the outer banks of North Carolina. One of the victims, an 82-year old man suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia, became pinned against the inside of the bridge fender system by the raging current.

Since it was impossible for the MLB to maneuver between the concrete bridge piling and fender system, Seaman Carola scaled the bridge fender and attempted to pull the victim to safety. His efforts proved unsuccessful due to the swift current repeatedly dragging the victim beneath the surface. Having no rescue swimmer training, and after witnessing the current pull another victim completely under the bridge fender system, Seaman Carola ignored the danger to himself and entered the water. He placed his body between the victim and the bridge fender, fighting against a standing wall of water to hold the head of this 250-pound man above the surface.

Following an unsuccessful attempt by the MLB crew who struggled to pull Seaman Carola and his victim to safety using a life ring with tending line, the exhausted victim told Carola that he was not going to survive and to let him go. Still tightly pinned against the bridge fender, Seaman Carola forced the life-ring over the victim's head and under his arms while desperately encouraging him not to give up. Believing that the elderly man had only minutes to live, Seaman Carola directed the boat crew to take the tending line up to the bow and to use the MLB to pull them clear. Once free of the fender system, Carola swam the then unconscious victim to the safety of the MLB.

Seaman Carola demonstrated remarkable initiative, exceptional fortitude, and daring in spite of imminent personal danger in this rescue, resulting in saving the life of this 82 year old man. His courage and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.

Gold Medal awardee Michael Carola with his parents and Rep Walter Jones (right).

AMVER Plaque

The U.S. Coast Guard 11^th District Command Center received a 406 MhZ SARSAT distress alert from the 53-foot sloop KOKOPELLI 2, approximately 1050 nautical miles WSW of San Francisco on 11 August, 2000. The vessel was returning to Santa Cruz from Kaneohe Bay after a Pacific Cup Race. A C-130 aircraft was launched from Air Station Sacramento and the search and rescue coordinator ran a check of the AMVER system.

The 600-foot tanker CHEVRON WASHINGTON was located 85NM to the southeast of the sailing vessel's position and was diverted via Inmarsat to investigate. The C-130 located the sailing vessel dismasted and disabled, and vectored in the tanker to evaluate the condition of the 5 persons on board. The ship learned that one crewmember while bending over a winch had been struck in the lower back when the mast collapsed and had no feeling from mid-groin down. The Chevron tanker maneuvered its rigid hull inflatable boat alongside the sloop, transferred the patient and administered codeine for pain.

The AMVER vessel departed the scene and briefed the flight surgeon on the man's condition. The Coast Guard then requested that the ship return to VHF communications range with the sailing vessel to pass intentions, future plans and critical communications from the vessel's owner. A conference call was arranged between the ship, the flight surgeon, rescue coordinators and Chevron's contract medical advisory service. All concurred that evaluation and stabilization by U.S. Air Force pararescue jumpers was advisable.

11^th District requested the assistance of the 939^th Air Force Reserve Wing in Portland, Oregon. The unit already had a trainer flight scheduled to do a night jump and so it accepted the mission. Rescue 821 was soon airborne with an ETA of 2300 hours. M/V CHEVRON WASHINGTON got underway at 13 knots toward the rendezvous position. Four paramedics from the 304^th Rescue Squadron parachuted and were recovered by the tanker. Then they stabilized the patient, provided a critical medical evaluation and prepared to extract him by helo hoist. When in range, about 600NM SSW of Portland, the 304^th and 303^rd worked together to evacuate the patient, employing C-130 tankers and refuelable helicopters, to a hospital in Portland.

VADM Ernest Riutta, USCG, commended the ship for its prompt response, initial medical care, night recovery of the pararescue jumpers and participation in hoist operations. "You should take great pride that your actions helped deliver a severely injured (and ultimately paralyzed) sailor to a hospital from 1,000 miles at sea."

AFRAS salutes Captain Gary Toledo, Master CHEVRON WASHINGTON and his crew for going well beyond the call of duty; 4 days on scene and a dramatic rescue at sea.

Admiral Gracey presents the AMVER plaque to Captain Toledo of M/V CHEVRON WASHINGTON.

Caribbean Initiative

One of the decisions approved by your board on 3 October was a broadening of AFRAS efforts to focus on the fledgling lifeboat services in the islands of the Caribbean. Not only are many of them in dire need of assistance, this is an area frequented by Americans using the charter fleets or the "mom and pop" boats which spend the winter down there. Several of us had been talking about this for nearly a year and touching base with others with similar concerns about the Caribbean. Turns out that not only Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR) but the US Coast Guard, the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and others have been working on a similar effort. In discussions with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the International Lifeboat Federation (ILF), as well as KNRM of the Netherlands, we found they had given their full support as well. (It is important to point out that we are not moving away from the RNLI-they will still receive funding through AFRAS gifts. We are only broadening our program to include needy organizations in waters close to our shores).

Our initial objectives include an attempt to identify and set up contact with all the players in a potential federation of Caribbean lifeboat services. We have contact with many already, but need to bring aboard others. Once we are comfortable that we have all the players lined up, we propose a regional conference in the Caribbean. Although many such as AFRAS, the USCG, RNLI, KNRM will support and possibly provide funding for such a conference, it is vital that the initiative come from states which will form this federation. We will encourage the states attending to join the ILF and in time to form a federation of Caribbean lifeboat services within the ILF-but first things first.

Once past the initial organizational conference, our plans include setting up regional conferences for discussion of rescue boats and equipment, operations and training. One of our dreams is to establish effective mechanisms of communications and mutual support. It is here that the large lifeboat organizations such as the USCG, USCG Auxiliary, RNLI, KNRM and others have much to offer. For AFRAS, it should greatly facilitate our raising funds for specific projects and we will have ready recipients should a benefactor come along wishing to help "someone in the Caribbean".

Massachusetts Maritime

 Another initiative approved by your board on 3 October relates to helping support a Search and Rescue (SAR) club at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Our new board member Ed O'Brien set up this club a couple years ago, and they have had extensive training in both maritime and land SAR techniques and equipment-having been mobilized for several major disasters including the World Trade Center where they provided logistics support. AFRAS will provide financial assistance to support club activities through equipment purchase and training.

This initiative nicely complements our present efforts to reach into the US merchant marine community through such programs as the AMVER (Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System) award. Although there has been a significant decrease in the size and activity of our merchant marine over the past years, schools such as Mass Maritime continue to turn out excellent mariners. Many of these graduates will not go to sea on US vessels but will instead join the USN or the USCG -or just take jobs in the civilian sector. Those who have been trained in SAR while at Mass Maritime will be excellent candidates to continue their careers in this field. We will also have the opportunity to raise funds for this program through Mass Maritime alumni.

The German Sea Rescue Service

The Annual Report 2000 of the Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbruchiger (DGzRS) gives us a wonderful snapshot of the rescue operations and organization of this active and competent service. It has 54 lifeboat stations distributed at key locations along the Baltic and North Sea coasts of the Federal Republic of Germany. The DGzRS operates two large rescue vessels (26 knots), each of which is equipped with a daughter-boat and a helicopter landing platform. There are also 19 rescue vessels (16-24 knots) equipped with a daughter-boat and 39 other rescue boats (10-20 knots).

Operations are coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) located in Bremen which has direct radio communication with each of the rescue boats as well as a direct link to the Naval Air Arm Search and Rescue (SAR) Center to facilitate helicopter rescue operations.

During 2000 there were 2352 call outs for assistance and the DGzRS was able to save 580 lives. Another 876 were saved from imminent serious danger. In 846 cases, the vessel in distress was either salvaged or given essential assistance. In an additional 473 cases (not included in the above figures), sick or injured persons were transported from ships or islands. Since the founding of the DGzRS in 1865, a total of 67,288 persons have been rescued by this proud service. Such a long history and high number of rescues places the DGzRS alongside the British Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the Netherland's Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij (KNRM) as one of Europe's premier services.

Like many other fine rescue services, the DGzRS does not receive federal funding. During 2000 it received gifts in the amount of 32 million Deutsche Marks. Of these, 82% were from member contributions and gifts (including donations from municipalities and list collections); 6% were from collecting boats; and another 5.6% were donations from ship owners. The DGzRS also received about 6.4% of its total from those who were instructed by a judge to make payments to a charitable organization. (Perhaps other volunteer rescue services should see if they could work out such a deal with their local judiciary).

Board of Directors Meeting Report  

3 October 2001

Mrs. Anne Kifer updated the Board on the growth in membership. Since April 2001 we have 9 new $100 members, 7 new $20 members, 29 new USCG Auxiliary members, and 3 new Donor members, totaling 48 new members.

The board then unanimously approved an $800 gift to the Virgin Island Search and Rescue (VISAR). AFRAS gifts to date this year have been RNLI $43,150; VISAR $9,475; and the International Lifeboat Federation (ILF) Aid Fund $1,000.

CAPT Chomeau briefed the Board on the new Caribbean Initiative. The idea is to bring together into a regional federation the Search and Rescue services of the Caribbean. Mr. Freemantle and Mr. Ventham of the RNLI were very supportive of this effort and encouraged AFRAS to pursue the initiative. The Board voted unanimously to proceed with the Caribbean Initiative. (Further information on this initiative can be found on page 5.)

Mr. Freemantle updated the Board on current activities of the RNLI. The RNLI and the USCG signed a Memorandum of Intent earlier that morning. It will facilitate the exchange of instructors for SAR training. The RNLI is also beginning a Beach Rescue program and an Inland Water (large bodies of water) Lifeboat Station Initiative. They are expanding their hovercraft program to help in tidal and other shallow water areas. They are also expanding their Sea Safety program with commercial fishermen with the intent of tracking fishing vessels in the event of an emergency. This will aid in decreasing the response time in rescues involving commercial fishing vessels. The RNLI is building a new school at their Poole location and is standardizing the training program for their volunteers. They intend to share the basic parts of this program with other ILF members.

It was agreed that attendance at the ILF conference in Uruguay this fall was too great an expense for AFRAS to support at this time. Captains Miller and Goward of the USCG as well as Mr. Venthan and Mr. Freemantle of the RNLI will be in attendance at the conference. Each has agreed to inform AFRAS of any developments that may be of interest.

The ILF conference in 2003 in Capetown South Africa was discussed next. Mr. Freemantle again discussed the desire of the ILF to expand and his belief that the conference would be well attended. He felt that an AFRAS presence at the conference would be of great benefit to AFRAS. The Board will decide on AFRAS's attendance at this conference at a later date.

ADM Gracey then opened the discussion on whether the Board should be expanded and what AFRAS was looking for in new Board members. The Board unanimously approved Mr. James Corry, Chief Warrant Officer Scott Clendenin, CAPT Gabriel Kinney, and Mr. Edward O'Brien. The Board also unanimously approved expanding the International Advisory Group to include Mrs. Alex Greenspon of VISAR and Mr. Sip Wiebenga of the Dutch KNRM. The Board also approved an annual review of all Board members to establish their ability and willingness to serve on the AFRAS Board for the following year.

CAPT Chomeau updated the Board on a proposal that AFRAS support the SAR Club at Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) and that an outstanding member of the club receive a one-year free membership to AFRAS. Both proposals were unanimously approved and it was suggested that AFRAS inquire into alumni publications at MMA that might be used to increase the awareness of AFRAS amongst its graduates. (For more information on the MMA proposal see page 5).

    AFRAS        

Mission Statement

The Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) was formed in 1976 to foster traditional maritime search and rescue values through programs to sustain international voluntary search and rescue organizations, provide suitable recognition of deserving personnel, and to facilitate international cooperation in search and rescue.

PO Box 5604

Arlington, VA 22205

(703) 534-7740 tel/fax

www.afras.org

Meet the newest members of the

AFRAS Board of Directors

The following article was prepared for AFRAS by Mr. Bill Wilkinson, Director Emeritus of the Mariners Museum and AFRAS board member. It is based on his years of research into lifeboats of the world. The article will be published in two installments.

In the AFRAS newsletter for Summer 2001 AFRAS President John Chomeau reported on the Intermediate Operational Conference of the International Lifeboat Federation (ILF) hosted by the KNRM at their headquarters in Ijmuiden, the Netherlands 13 - 15 June. This conference is but one of the latest examples of the spirit of cooperation and sharing that has existed between lifesaving organizations from the first half of the 19^th century when many were founded.

Although many individuals have claimed to be "the inventor" of the coastal lifeboat, the consensus of most lifeboat historians is that a number of individuals were responsible for specific design characteristics with no one person being responsible for the whole design. These historians also agree that the first successful purpose-built lifeboat was the Original built by Henry Greathead, a highly regarded boat builder of South Shields, England, and launched on 30 January 1790. This pioneer lifeboat was purposely designed to save survivors of shipwrecks at the entrance to the river Tyne. Operating under the control of the Tyne Lifeboat Institution, the Original remained in service for forty years. With a dedicated volunteer crew of twelve, it saved hundreds of lives. Following the launching of the Original, Greathead built an additional 43 lifeboats of similar design over the next twenty years. Most of them were paid for by Lloyds and the second Duke of Northumberland and manned and administered through local enterprise. A few of the boats went to other countries including Portugal, Lithuania, Russia, Denmark, Prussia and Sweden. Most of these were purchased by their royal heads of state. Thus, from its inception as the first purpose-built coastal lifeboat in England, it was made available to other countries.

In the United States, the Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was founded in Boston in 1786. It was modeled after the British Royal Humane Society, incorporated in 1774. From its beginning, officers of the Boston Society maintained regular correspondence with their British counterparts and it was through this source that they learned of Greathead's Original and in 1803 began to think of the use of a lifeboat on the coast of Massachusetts. In time, the Society ordered a lifeboat based on the plans and specifications of the Original from a Nantucket boat builder, William Raymond, who completed the boat in October 1807. After reviewing the recommendations of a number of highly respected mariners, the Humane Society stationed the lifeboat at Cohasset. Thus, the first purpose-built coastal lifeboat in the United States was an English design for which the plans and specifications were gladly provided by the Royal Humane Society.

Thus was born the spirit of sharing and cooperation which would characterize the relationships between lifesaving services in the years to follow. It should be noted that for many years the Humane Society of Massachusetts provided the only lifeboat service along that state's busy coastline.

The Federal Government's involvement in coastal lifesaving began modestly in 1848 when Congress passed the Newall Act providing funds for establishing a number of small lifesaving stations along the New Jersey coast from Sandy Hook to Little Egg Harbor. The stations were to be provided with surfboats, rockets, carronades and other necessary lifesaving apparatus. The local communities were to have oversight over the stations, their equipment and the volunteer crews. In the following years additional appropriations provided funds for establishing stations on Long Island, Rhode Island, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Texas and in 1854, the Great Lakes. The coming of the Civil War terminated further federal interest. After the war debate continued as to whether the federal government should provide for paid crews, stations keepers and district superintendents. Under the system then in effect, the stations had no supervision, crews were untrained and boats, life cars and other equipment were not properly maintained. As a result many of the shipwrecks on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Great Lakes resulted in large loss of life. Finally, in the winter of 1870-71 there were a number of especially brutal storms resulting in a number of major shipwrecks and of large death tolls. The public outcry was such that a Division of Revenue Marine (later called the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service) which included the Revenue Marine and the lifesaving stations, was established and in 1871 Sumner I. Kimball was appointed to head the newly combined organizations which operated within the Treasury Department. Kimball was a splendid administrator, an individual of great integrity and had a thorough understanding of how the government worked. Kimball's appointment marked the end of the volunteer system at the lifesaving stations. Over the next seven years Kimball organized a firmly centralized service. A few of the Revenue Marine Service officers were assigned to the lifesaving branch. As assistant inspectors they routinely inspected the stations and the crews and investigated wrecks. They also handled the acquisition of property on which new stations were to be built and provided oversight of their construction to make sure all government specifications were met. Captain J. H. Merryman, USRM, the Revenue Marine's Superintendent of construction, had a strong interest in lifeboat design and assisted Kimball in research of the subject with the aim of improving the rescue craft of the U.S.L.S.S. They were aware of lifeboat developments in England and in 1873 requested the assistance of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in obtaining one of their 30' standard self-righting, self-bailing, pulling, sailing lifeboats. The RNLI gladly responded to the American request and in August 1873 the new lifeboat arrived in New York. After extensive testing it was determined that the English boat was too heavy for launching under the prevailing conditions along American shorelines. Capt. Merryman modified the design bringing its overall length to 26'8". However, the basic design with all of its self-bailing and self-righting features along with other construction details were retained exactly as in the English boat. Between 1875 and the 1890's a large number of these lifeboats were built and stationed on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as the Great Lakes. They gave great confidence to the crews whose lives depended upon the lifeboat's qualities. In his report to Kimball on the test of the 30 foot RNLI lifeboat, Merryman stated: "There seems to be no doubt that the lifesaving institutions of Europe particularly those of England, France and Germany have perfected boats and many other appliances for rescuing shipwrecked persons far superior to our own."

In 1891 Merryman's 26'8" lifeboat design was expanded to 34 feet. It was of the same form and construction as the smaller boat but with two additional features: a centerboard and water ballast. In 1899 one of these larger models was provided with a gasoline engine, the first such installation in the lifesaving service. The tests of this first engine-powered lifeboat were highly satisfactory and in the next few years a number of the 34-foot pulling and sailing lifeboats were converted to engine power. In 1909 the 34 foot lifeboat type was expanded to 36 feet with a more powerful engine and between that time and 1956 four additional lifeboat types were developed by the U. S. Coast Guard which had been created in 1915 by the merger of the Lifesaving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service. All four variants of this type of lifeboat maintained the basic form and character established in the 1873 English lifeboat.

The influence of the 1873 RNLI lifeboat design was also felt in Canada. Officials of the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries which was responsible for five lifeboat stations in British Columbia learned that the U. S. Lifesaving Service was having a number of the 36' McLellan self-righting, self-bailing motor lifeboats built by the Electric Launch Company of Bayonne, New Jersey. The U. S. Lifesaving Service agreed to let Electric Launch also build one of the new lifeboats for Canada to be stationed in Bamfield, British Columbia. McLellan acknowledged that his 36' design was based on the 1873 30-foot RNLI prototype-- so the Canadian service also benefited from the RNLI's experience. Later, a number of these boats were built in Vancouver for the Canadian service.

From these early times there has been a close relationship between the U. S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard.

In addition to making available to the U. S. Lifesaving Service in 1873 one of its standard 30-foot self-righting, self-bailing lifeboats, the RNLI also provided copies of its official instructions and rules for:

• The Management of Open Rowboats in a Surf; Beaching them, etc.
• Regulations Relative to the Care and Use of the Self-Bailing and Self-Righting Lifeboat
• Towing of Lifeboats
• Instructions for Saving Drowning Persons by Swimming to their Relief
• Instructions and Drill in the Use of the Rocket and Mortar Apparatus

Between 1873 and 1915 the U. S. Lifesaving Service issued only four editions of its Regulations for the Governance of the Service, 1873, 1877, 1884 and 1899. In the first two editions the RNLI Instructions and Rules were incorporated into the American regulations without modification. In the last two, there were some modifications based on the actual operational experience of the American lifeboat and surfboat crews. Fifty years of RNLI experience aided the U. S. Service in professionalizing its operations from the time of its reorganization in 1873.

More to come. In the next issue, Mr. Wilkinson will discuss the establishment of the ILF and cooperation between the RNLI, USCG, Canadian Coast Guard and others in the design of lifeboats.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Search and Rescue

Help in World Trade Center Relief Effort

Written by AFRAS Director Ed O'Brien

Massachusetts Maritime Academy Search and Rescue Club (MMA-SAR) sent a team of six cadets to New York City on September 16. The cadets worked at Pier 52 on the Hospital Ship USNS Comfort, at the Pier 40 logistical support area, and they took supplies from the Stuyvesant High School staging area down to Ground Zero. In the true spirit of the U.S. Merchant Marine, the cadets provided a logistics component of getting needed supplies to ground zero only it was done by way of land this time. All members of the team felt that their work represented a sense of duty, obligation and humanitarianism.

MMA-SAR is a volunteer team made up of the Academy's Cadets with specialized advisors who train the cadets three times a week in all aspects of ocean rescue. The team offers assistance to any public safety organization when the need for waterborne assets and experience is needed. The team frequently will help conduct land SAR or even water safety talks for any community. The emphasis of the club is to expose the Academy's cadets to a wide range of Search and Rescue disciplines and build future leaders for the Rescue Services.

Conferences

1^st ILF Regional SAR Conference

of the Americas

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Tuesday 23 April - Friday 26 April, 2002

Saturday 27 April, 2002 Open Forum Day

The first International Lifeboat Conference for the Americas

and the Caribbean

Sosades@adinet.com.uy

International Conference hosted by the

Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Association

Sydney, Australia

3 March - 7 March, 2002

"to enable an exchange of ideas and experiences between full-time Coast Guard organizations and volunteer groups from the Pacific Basin and elsewhere in the world."

Email: leanneb@iceaustralia.com

World Congress on Drowning

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

20 - 26 June, 2002

Email: Secretariat@drowning.nl

19^th International Lifeboat Conference

Cape Town, South Africa in March 2003

(more details to follow in future newsletters)

Email: Nari-hq@iafrica.com