Letter from the President:

These have been exciting times for AFRAS. Our efforts to broaden our horizons and spread our wings have begun to pay off. We are slowly growing our membership base and have had some nice contacts develop thanks to visits to our website. Two major maritime corporations, Hutchison Port Holdings based in Hong Kong and Global Marine Systems from the UK have made generous contributions to AFRAS. We now need to solicit contributions from other corporate donors as well. Your suggestions as to corporations who might be willing to help us will be welcome.

Most of all, our Caribbean Initiative is nearing fruition thanks to the support of the US Coast Guard and its Auxiliary. The Auxiliary’s past National Commodore and former AFRAS board member, Ev Tucker, has been the moving force in an effort to organize a conference of volunteer SAR organizations of the Caribbean to be hosted by the USCG Auxiliary in December.

This issue of the Newsletter features the Royal Netherlands Lifeboat Institution Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding-Maatschappij (KNRM). In each issue we intend to feature one of the major volunteer rescue services with which AFRAS has close contacts. (Past issues have featured the British Virgin Islands VISAR and the German DGzRS. For news of the RNLI, we enclose for our RNLI members a copy of their Lifeboats). We welcome news of notable rescues or equipment development from any of the ILF members and welcome the opportunity to provide our readers a description of your rescue service.

My plans are to visit the RNLI headquarters in Poole in mid-May and to attend their annual general meeting and awards ceremony in London. This will be my first visit to Poole and I look forward to learning more about the organization and operations of the RNLI. On my return trip home, I plan to visit ICE-SAR in Iceland to discuss plans for AFRAS to raise funds to support their operations. At the moment, our primary focus remains support of the RNLI and VISAR, but through programs such as the Caribbean Initiative and developing relationships such as with ICE-SAR, our hope is to be able to support other volunteer lifeboat services as well.

At our recent board meeting on 19 March we discussed the Caribbean Initiative, with participation by Ev Tucker plus two members of our International Advisory Group, Mr. Ian Ventham of the RNLI and Mrs. Alexandra Greenspon of VISAR. Board member, Captain Gabe Kinney, USCG (ret.) has agreed to represent AFRAS at the ILF conference in South Africa in 2003 and we will be represented as well at the Auxiliary’s national conference over Labor Day in Orlando as well as at the Auxiliary’s Caribbean conference. We have indeed spread our wings and are developing new and exciting programs. We find, however, that our fiscal basis is not currently strong enough to support all that we plan to do to help others. We will work to identify other corporate donors, but would also welcome and make good use of any additional help from our members. THANKS!

John Chomeau

President, AFRAS

Saved By The Jacket

By Virgil Chambers, National Safe Boating Council

More often than we like, we hear about boating mishaps where people drown. They fall out of the boat or the craft capsizes. We generally only hear about those accidents where the individual(s) was not wearing a life jacket. After all, that was the reason they ended up as a boating fatality. Ask someone to wear a life jacket when going out on a small boat, and they would roll their eyes or say, "I can swim." Most boaters think of life jackets as cumbersome and will choose not to wear them, even though the life jackets of today are stylish, comfortable and truly wearable.

Over 500 people drown each year from boating accidents in the United States. However, there are more people boating, and more people wearing life jackets that ever before. An unfortunate headline in a hometown paper may read "Boaters Drown - Death Attributed to Not Wearing Lifejackets." The story is true all too often. There is little doubt that the wearing of lifejackets could save the lives of many of those over 500 boaters who drown each year. People don’t expect to end up in the water, but suddenly and unexpectedly it happens. They fall out of the boat, or the small johnboat they are fishing from capsizes. Without a life jacket that sudden plunge becomes fatal. Sad, yes.

What we need to hear more about is the thousands of lives that are saved each year because knowledgeable boaters wear their life jackets. The National Safe Boating Council asked boaters from around the country to share stories about how wearing a life jacket saved their life. The response was awe-inspiring. The Council received testimony from boaters living in 30 states.

Paddlers, sailors, anglers, personal watercraft operators, power boaters, house boaters, and yachtsmen and women from all walks of life gratefully acknowledged the lifesaving capability of a life jacket.

Over one hundred stories were collected, authenticated, and, where possible, publication permission was sought and received. The one common denominator in all the stories is that the teller of the tale found a respect for the value of wearing a life jacket. Nearly half of the stories that were submitted were put into a booklet entitled "Saved by the Jacket." Samples of these stories are available for review on the National Safe Boating Council web site at www.safeboatingcouncil.org. You can even purchase a copy of the booklet on the web site for a nominal cost.

In any case, "Saved By the Jacket" is a call to action. It is also a tribute to everyone in the boating community, including the boat owner, the marina operator, the boating class instructor, and the boating safety and rescue volunteer who insists that those who go out in boats wear their life jacket. Life jackets save lives. You will see in the "Saved by the Jacket" booklet that the proof is a real page-turner.

Conferences

1st 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

Email: 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

19th International Lifeboat Conference

Cape Town, South Africa in March 2003

(more details to follow in future newsletters)

Email: Nari-hq@iafrica.com

International Conference on Safety in Transportation

Telese Terme Italy

7 – 14 April 2002

Themes will include inland waterways and recreational boating, international cooperation in investions and developments in safer air, land, and sea travel, and activities to prevent accidents caused by alcohol and drug abuse.

FRIENDLY SUPPORT OF CARIBBEAN SEARCH & RESCUE ORGANIZATIONS

Compiled by John Chomeau

Many of the larger search and rescue-oriented organizations such as the USCG, the British RNLI, the Dutch KNRM, and the French SNSM have provided significant assistance to the volunteer maritime rescue organizations of the Caribbean Basin. Other organizations such as Maritime Rescue International (MRI) of Scotland have provided training and technical assistance.

The US Coast Guard has provided considerable assistance to many of the nations of Caribbean in order to enhance their capabilities in regional and national security through operations such as drug interdiction, suppression of illegal migration, and enhanced port security. The cutters and small rescue boats are multi-mission, so their crews are trained in SAR as well as the law enforcement missions. In support of the May 1997 Barbados Summit Plan of Action, the USCG has delivered one 133 foot buoy tender and ten 82 foot patrol boats, along with associated training and spare parts valued at over $7 million to help Caribbean area nations more effectively patrol their waters. Six more vessels are planned for delivery to regional coast guards by the end of this year.

The US Coast Guard operates the Caribbean Support Tender (CST) Gentian at an annual cost of $2 million. This tender uses an international crew and multilateral training experts to deliver tailored maintenance and training support. In addition, over the past four years, the USCG has deployed 38 training teams to nine Caribbean countries, reaching over one thousand persons; 306 Caribbean students have attended 532 resident courses in the US; and there have been numerous professional exchanges.

The USCG has also sponsored several international conferences such as the Semi-annual Eastern Caribbean Coast Guard Commanders Conference as well as a SAR Workshop to be held this summer in the Caribbean. It also supported a SAR Conference last year in the Dominican Republic and is currently working on plans for a conference of volunteer SAR services to be held later this year. The Greater Antilles Section (GANTSEC) is a senior USCG command based in Puerto Rico with responsibility for liaison with and support of the Antilles. It has been instrumental in sponsoring many of the SAR initiatives in the region.

The RNLI has been an active supporter of volunteer rescue services in the Caribbean. It has provided both equipment and training to local volunteer rescue services such as VISAR and other British Commonwealth members. The KNRM likewise has been an active supporter of Caribbean rescue services. As it replaces lifeboats in the Netherlands with new ones, it donates the ones being taken out of service to rescue organizations such as CITRO (Citizens Rescue Organization) and others in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Since its founding 25 years ago, CITRO in Curacao, has received training and equipment from the KNRM.

The KNRM has also sponsored training for Caribbean crews at the MRI facility in Stonehaven, Scotland and provided technical support when needed. To date the KNRM has donated seven lifeboats and two more fast lifeboats of nine meters will be shipped within a year.

The situation of the French SNSM in the French Antilles is rather unique. Since islands such as Martinique and Guadeloupe are an integral part of Metropolitan France (much as Hawaii is part of the USA), there is not a separate mechanism for providing assistance from Paris. Instead, there is a senior SNSM representative on each island. The first SNSM lifeboat station was established at Fort de France (Martinique) in 1976, followed by Pointe a Pitre (Guadeloupe) in 1986 and then Gourbeyre in 1995, Le Marin in 1997, Le Francois in 1998, and Saint Martin in 2000. At present, the SNSM operates seven lifeboats in the French Antilles under the control of the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Center) at Fort de France. In 2001, the SNSM in the Antilles launched 64 times, rendering assistance to 33 ships and more than 100 hundred persons. Many of the cases were either yachts sailing between the islands or fishing boats with engine failures. The SNSM also provided medical support and evacuation services for cruise ships.

Maritime Rescue International (MRI) based in Stonehaven, Scotland has also provided training to the rescue services such as CITRO and others of the Netherlands Antilles through the KNRM.

INTERNATIONAL

LIFEBOAT FEDERATION

Written by CDR Michael Woodroffe,

International Lifeboat Federation Secretariat at RNLI Headquarters

1. The International Lifeboat Federation (ILF) was founded in 1924 at the 100th Anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the United Kingdom’s Lifeboat Service.

The ILF purpose and vision are:

ILF purpose

To promote the saving of life at sea world-wide by providing an innovative forum for International cooperation in lifeboat Search and Rescue. The ILF aims, with IMO, to promote the establishment and efficient operation of lifeboat services throughout the world. Additionally the ILF promotes public education and awareness activities with the objective of enhancing the safety of life at sea.

ILF Vision

To be recognised as the foremost international authority on lifeboat Search and Rescue; and to be recognised as one of the lead international organisations promoting safety of life at sea.

2. Members meet quadrennially and at the 18th such meeting in 1999 (coincidental with the RNLI's 175th Anniversary) there were some 40 members, and an agreed objective to double membership by the 19th ILF Conference to be held in March 2003 in Capetown, South Africa. Full membership is free and open to all who operate governmentally approved Maritime Search and Rescue Services, subject to certain criteria being met. Smaller intermediate conferences focussing on specific themes are held midway between the quadrennial conferences.

3. The ILF has observor and consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the maritime branch of the United Nations. IMO looks to the ILF as the lead body on maritime Search and Rescue. Attendance by the ILF at IMO has been beneficial to both parties; for the ILF it has enabled personal contact to be made with those responsible for SAR in their countries with the result that ILF membership currently has grown significantly and stands at 76 members from 55 nations, with several applications pending.

4. The recent amendments to IMO's Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention, and Search and Rescue (SAR) Convention together with IMO's now completed Global SAR plan make it now mandatory for contracting states to put in place a Search and Rescue Organisation.

5. The ILF fully supports IMO's Global SAR plan and the federations ultimate goal is to ensure every nation with a maritime seaboard has access to, or operates its own Maritime Search and Rescue Organisation. It is therefore timely the ILF is lifting its profile and with it comes the enhanced ability to help those attempting to establish a SAR service often with limited resources.

6. Membership benefits include the free exchange of technical and operational knowledge, the ability (subject to meeting certain criteria) to purchase second hand lifeboats at a substantially lesser price than they would fetch if sold commercially.

The Netherlands Lifeboat Institution KNRM

By Kees Brinkman, KNRM

In the years of its existence, the KNRM has evolved from two low-tech, amateur-run voluntary societies into one high-tech, professionally run, non-profit company. But it still floats on voluntary contributions and, above all, voluntary crews who combine normal jobs and families with full time lifeboat duty. What follows is a short survey of the KNRM’s history, organization, lifeboat development, and operations. (See article on p.10 for a description of a recent heroic rescue made by the KNRM and article on p.9 for a description of AFRAS board member Bill Wilkinson’s efforts to set up a "pen pal" relationship between units of the KNRM and the USCG Auxiliary in the Philadelphia area).

The History

After some botched governmental attempts at launching a coastal lifeboat service, disaster helped to get a voluntary organization off the ground in the Netherlands, in the same year when Sir William Hillary initiated today’s RNLI. A gale that in October 1824 drove the Dutch frigate De Vreede ashore off Den Helder, also sank 16 other vessels with the loss of many hands. De Vreede was special, though, because a private lifeboat capsized, after having rescued 11 of its crew. All but one of the boat’s seven crew and three rescued sailors drowned, which triggered the establishment of two, no less, lifeboat institutions, the Amsterdam based Noord- en Zuid-Hollandsche Redding-Maatschappij (NZHRM) and the Zuid-Hollandsche Maatschappij tot Redding van Schipbreukelingen (ZHMRS) of Rotterdam (respectively the North and the South, for short).

This typically Dutch parochialism seemed an unlikely recipe for a successful lifeboat service. Yet, by dependence on voluntary contributions, volunteer crews and voluntary governors -wealthy merchants and ship owners who paid the bills themselves if necessary- both ‘rescue companies’ became extremely cost effective organizations. Add sound Dutch avarice, finely tuning premiums to (just) lure dirt-poor local boatmen into becoming a lifeboatman. This even became a desirable distinction along the coast; young men vied to join the service and stay with it. From 1864, coxswains were paid a regular salary; and with the advent of steam and motor lifeboats, likewise mates and mechanics. As technology progressed, the lifeboat institutions needed more professionals.

At last, in 1991, both institutions merged to become the Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding-Maatschappij (Royal Netherlands Lifeboat Institution or KNRM), with enough organizational beef on its bones to run a modern fleet of fast, technologically complicated craft. Combining resources and keeping overhead down have produced an efficient lifeboat service with a modest payroll of 17 technical and 20 office staff at HQ, 12 professional coxswains in the fleet and five part-time doctors for the Netherlands Radio Medical Service. The other 600 crew members, 120 local committee members, nine members on the board and three advisers are all volunteers.

Total expenditures in 2000 were almost 20 million guilders (9 million Euro) and total income from fund raising was 33 million guilders (15 million Euro). The number of contributors has risen beyond 70,000 and a significant number of grants and legacies have enabled the institution to continue its building program of rigid inflatables.

The KNRM also has an innovative "Rescuer on Shore" membership program for individuals who wish to contribute to the KNRM. It likewise has a long list of volunteers who wish to join and train as lifeboat crew. Since 1994 the entire service has been run from a modern headquarters at IJmuiden, with storehouses and workshops for servicing the fleet.

The road to self righters

In 1824 both ‘rescue companies’ began working with double-ended clinker beach boats: the North had 28ft Groenland whaleboats: light, narrow (5½ft beam), six sweeps and with rush for buoyancy; the South deployed 25ft clinker 10 oar pulling boats, with a beam of 7ft and designed by its founder Willem van Houten Jr. From 1866, some Beeching Peake self-righters were used.

Various designs of pulling boats dominated the scene until in 1893 the South ordered a hydraulic steam lifeboat from John Thornycroft and in 1909 a similar vessel from the Feijenoord shipyard of Rotterdam. The North bought in 1907 its first unsinkable purpose designed motor lifeboat, with a 45hp Brooke’s engine and arguably the first tunnel-protected propeller in history. Improvement of motor lifeboats became a continuous process, culminating by 1927 in development of what was to become the standard type of self-righting lifeboat, after an idea by famous lifeboat coxswain, Mees Toxopeus, who suggested building a submarine on the surface. Professor Ernst Vossnack of Delft University and Jan Niestern, shipbuilder of Delfzijl, made a design with heavy keel plating and a kiptank under one sidedeck, which would together always right the boat after capsizing. Torpedo boat hatches, special ventilators to stop water entering the capsized boat, each engine in its own watertight engine room and mercury-switches to stop the engines running beyond an inclination of 100°, were some of the revolutionary features.

In 1927 the first of these self-righters, 62ft, 50 ton Insulinde was launched, soon followed by sistership Neeltje Jacoba; the South simultaneously began its program of Vossnack-designed self-righting double screw lifeboats with the 57ft Koningin Wilhelmina. All big self-righters built after the Second World War by both the North and the South were in fact further developments of the Insulinde design. The South’s latest series of selfrighters were slightly bigger than those of the North and better maneuverable with double rudders, and had an enormous capacity for survivors (some 100 could be stowed down below) because of the ferries, which regularly call at Rotterdam.

These 10-knot self-righters operated from major ports. Places in between were considered insufficiently covered. From the 1920s the North therefore gradually replaced its beach-launched pulling boats with 34ft Eierland class clinker double ended motor lifeboats.

Rather RIBs

From the 1960s, a significant growth in the number of pleasure craft venturing offshore boosted the number of distress calls from yachts. Air traffic increased, also in the wake of offshore industry, with the risk of emergency landings on the sea, and the need for rapidly recovering large numbers of casualties far out to sea. With better medical services and communications, the number of sailors and islanders increased who had to be transferred to hospitals ashore. Gradually the emphasis in lifeboat ‘clients’ shifted from heavy weather big ship casualties in winter to ‘all seasons’ clients who especially needed rapid assistance. More often services included relatively vulnerable craft in moderate conditions, while the number of heavy weather services to shipping increased as well. A revolutionary new type of fast lifeboat was needed.

In 1973 the South bought its first RNLI-developed Atlantic 21 and in 1981 the North joined the RNLI’s Medina-project, aimed at researching the development of large fast rigid inflatables (RIBs). When the RNLI opted for rigid fast craft, the Dutch KNZHRM decided to go it alone, developing Medinas with waterjet propulsion. Meanwhile the South ordered from Mulder & Rijke lifeboat builders the 42ft RIB Koningin Beatrix, also with waterjets. In 1986 the North’s further development of the Medina with W. de Vries Lentsch naval architects, David Stogdon (RNLI) and the Delft University ship model basin, was fit for production and the 47ft (15 meter) Johannes Frederik was ordered.

Experience with both the Atlantic 21 and Johannes Frederik proves that RIBs with waterjets fit the Dutch lifeboat-bill admirably. They are fast and highly maneuverable, can–if properly designed, equipped and handled- safely negotiate the worst of sea conditions, can safely operate in shallow water, and are safe in coming alongside and taking on board casualties. They are particularly adept with vulnerable craft such as yachts. In 1990, a further RIB-development, the 35ft Valentijn class came into being, primarily designed to replace, with its 34 knots, the 7.5 knots Eierland class.

The need for higher endurance during offshore missions triggered the development of the 62ft (18 meter) Arie Visser class, with the same team that was responsible for both other RIBs. The first was launched in 2000 and it has sufficient fuel capacity to maintain its top speed of 34 knots for 16 hours. All bigger RIBs are self-righting thanks to their enclosed wheelhouse. The Valentijn-class’ open steering position has an airtight box overhead and inflatable bag on top.

Alongside these big RIBs, the KNRM has also 25 smaller RIBs for operations along the North Sea coast, Waddenzee, IJsselmeer and Rhine-Scheldt estuary. These smaller craft are semi-automatic self righters: after a capsize the crew has to trigger an inflatable righting bag on top of the bar over the helmsman’s seat. A prototype 29ft (9 meter) Harder 2000 class RIB is presently undergoing trials. Of this 33 knots/20 survivors craft an expected 20 will be built, mainly to replace the Atlantic 21s and smaller RIBs.

The KNRM’s fleet will eventually be streamlined to just four types of RIB, not including auxiliary inflatables; a great logistic improvement from the 11 different types of motor lifeboat and RIB with which the KNRM was saddled with in 1991, at the time of the merger. The KNRM presently has under construction three 62ft Arie Visser class RIBS to enter service in 2002, 2003, and 2004. The cost for each lifeboat is 2.5 million guilders (1.3 million Euro). Three new 34 ft. (11 meter) lifeboats are on order for 2002 and 2003, at a cost per lifeboat of 600,000 Euro.

Organization

Though as an independent voluntary institution and not actually a branch of it, the KNRM cooperates fully with the Netherlands Coast Guard and is the only organization within it, available round the clock for seaborne rescue operations. Official Coast Guard ships generally have a variety of other duties, of which rescue operations are not the first priority. The KNRM also operates the Radio Medical Service, in which five GPs provide full time medical advice by radio and INMARSAT.

The KNRM now operates 38 lifeboat stations. Of these stations 10 have a full-time, paid coxswain and volunteer crews who are mobilized in the case of an alarm. The other lifeboat stations are completely volunteer. Plans are to complete another six stations in the next seven years. The KNRM operates 60 lifeboats, of which 16 are all-weather. It operates twenty 4x4 trucks and has nine water-tight tractors with carriages (large trailers) for launching lifeboats from the beach.

Operations

Assistance rendered by the KNRM is free of charge, regardless of the circumstances in which it is rendered or the time it takes. Operational, training and maintenance expenses are met through voluntary contributions, annual donations, legacies, bequests and gifts.

The number of lifeboat services has since the KNRM’s merger in 1991 steadily increased until, from 1995, the number of calls has remained around 1500 a year. Over 60% of the calls for help are from pleasure craft in winds force 3 to 5; but still over 200 of the calls are for merchant and fishing craft, up from a total of 40 for North and South in 1976. Moreover, these services tend to be in the worst of weather. During 2000 there were 1,518 requests for services and 2,726 persons were safely brought to shore. Since 1824, the KNRM has saved over 52,000 lives. The Netherlands Radio Medical Service which operates as part of the KNRM has five physicians who can give medical advice free of charge world-wide using telex, Inmarsat or radiotelephone. In 2000, medical advice was provided 819 times.

Dependable diesel engines, radar, GPS, VHF and other technical improvements may have made shipping and yachting safer, but they cannot rule out human failure as a cause of disaster. The same technical improvements have made lifeboats more capable of services which their coxswains would not have dreamed half a century ago. The KNRM, particularly with its excellent and extremely seaworthy Arie Visser class RIB’s, is better equipped than ever to preserve the life of those in peril on the sea.

AFRAS president, John Chomeau, during a visit to KNRM headquarters for an ILF conference last summer was impressed with the degree of volunteerism and eagerness to join the KNRM on the part of young Dutch persons. They take real pride in their work, train very hard and demonstrate true professionalism. Moreover, there were amongst these professional mariners almost as many young women as men and the KNRM recently qualified its first female lifeboat operator.

Welcome Aboard New AFRAS Members!

Robert Davis David Forrest John James Jack Lee Warren O'Sullivan Barrington Williams

Fifth District-Northern USCG Auxiliary Region (D5-NR) &

The Dutch Lifesaving Organization (KNRM)

"Friends Across the Sea"

By: CDR Steve Minutolo, USCG. Director of Auxiliary (D5-NR)

On January 25, 2002, an informal yet unique presentation was made in the Director of Coast Guard Auxiliary Office at Coast Guard Marine Safety Office/Group Philadelphia to mark the cementing of a new partnership between two great volunteer maritime organizations.

The story began in September 2000 when the Coast Guard’s Fifth District-Northern Auxiliary Region (D5-NR) was approached by Mr. and Mrs. William "Bill" Wilkinson of Springfield, Pennsylvania with a unique proposal. Mr. Wilkinson, a founding member of the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS), member of the Coast Guard Academy Museum Association, and past Director of the Maritime Museum in Newport News, Virginia, and his wife Dorothy, were avid supporters of maritime lifesaving organizations with particularly close ties to northern European maritime organizations. Their proposal… a partnership between two outstanding volunteer maritime lifesaving organizations: the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the Dutch Lifesaving Organization.

The idea was both intriguing and inviting given the potential benefits to be gained by both organizations. D5-NR gained approval to proceed with the partnership with the KNRM from its Coast Guard Atlantic Area and Headquarters program managers last summer. The tragedies experienced in our nation last fall hindered moving ahead with the partnership, but an excellent opportunity to get back on track came during the recent holiday season. Bill and Dorothy Wilkinson visited the Netherlands and were able to personally present some mementos and regards to the KNRM on behalf of D5-NR. They returned with similar gifts from the KNRM, presenting them to District Commodore Robert Perrone at the January 25th event with District Vice Commodore Dr. Eugene Bentley and Captain of the Port of Philadelphia, Captain Greg Adams, USCG, in attendance.

D5-NR is proud to move into 2002 with the KNRM as its new "Trans-Atlantic" partner. We eagerly look forward to exchanges of regional publications, web sites, communication exercises, maritime experiences and other information that will teach us more about each other and improve our professional maritime development and international awareness.

Heroic rescue by KNRM crews

Three sailors snatched from the claws of death

By Kees Brinkman, KNRM

IJmuiden / Wijk aan Zee – 4 September 2001 Wind: NW 8-9

A stroll down the North pier at IJmuiden is the ultimate delight for the more adventurous wanderers among us, but it is a sailor’s worst nightmare when attempting to enter IJmuiden haven during a storm. Rescue boat teams also prefer to stay as far from the pier as they can during storms, although they are always prepared to react when the untoward happens... And react they did when a ship was thrown onto the pier by a storm on 4 September 2001, despite the imminent threat of the waves dashing them to a watery death against the rocks of the pier.

The storm, which had been moving in from the North West for a number of days, turned the waves to the North of the pier into a huge mass of spray and foam; spray and foam that made the sea virtually invisible. With heavy waves that dash into the shore with a role of thunder and angrily break against the rocks of the pier, the sight of a storm from the North pier is undeniably impressive.

Coxswain Leen Langbroek and crewmember Ton Haasnoot of the lifeboat Christien, had things to do at the IJmuiden fort in the centre of the harbour. They took the lifeboat with them, just in case, so that they could leave the island immediately if the alarm sounded, independent of the ferry. Just a few minutes after entering the fort, Langbroek called Haasnoot and told him that he was getting back on board the Christien because he did not want to be trapped in the fort during a storm. Seconds after they agreed that that would be a good idea, at 15:28 hours, their pagers went off. The coast guard reported that a dinghy had been spotted near the North pier. They were unsure whether it was manned. Langbroek and Haasnoot were back on board the Christien in record time, racing back to the Christien’s berth, where Piet Lanser and Richard van der Hammen waited to clamour aboard, survival suits flung over their shoulders.

In Wijk aan Zee, a few kilometres North of IJmuiden, the KNRM boathouse October was also surrounded by a flurry of activity. Coxswain Ruud van Wilgenburg of the lifeboat Donateur was already present in the boathouse when he and his crew were called, and had the door of the boathouse opened and the Donateur ready to sail when his crew and the tractor driver arrived. As his young crewmembers Alex Bakker, Rob de Boer and Kees Croese ran toward the beach at the side of the Donateur, Captain van Wilgenburg, who has been active with the KNRM since 1972, knew they would have their jobs cut out for them. "We’re in for a very bumpy ride boys!" yelled the coxswain, "They say the boat’s lodged against the pier!" Once on the rescue boat, they were quiet as they listened to the information sputtering from the VHF. The Christien, which was still in the harbour at that moment, was broadcasting the search area, which extended five miles from the shore from IJmuiden to Castricum. The coxswain and crew of the Donateur reported that they were ready for action, but wasted few words on idle talk. They all knew that they would really need to perform that day.

"Bert, it’s Leen here. We’re on our way to pick you up. Get ready!" Bert Hermans, with years of experience in lifeboat work, had called his coxswain the minute he received the alarm to tell him he was at the Seaport Marina and was eager to help. The Christien was asked to slow its pace for a moment because of construction activities in the fishing harbour, giving Langbroek the time he needed to think about the offer. He decided to take Hermans up on his offer because he knew that every extra hand on board was worth its weight in gold, certainly hands as experienced as those of Hermans.

"Lifeboats Christien and Donateur, IJmuiden Rescue here. Wreckage has been spotted near the North pier" sputtered out of the VHF. Although they could not hear the rest of the broadcast, they did not really need to. The first few lines were enough. They all asked themselves what had happened. Where were the wreckage and the dinghy from? Was it a shipwreck or had the dingy been carried in to shore by the North-westerly gale? Were the wreckage and the dinghy related? The answers to some of their questions come quickly. "Lifeboats Christien and Donateur, Coast Guard here. Yacht spotted near the North pier. No other information." Near the North pier, the worst place for it to be in terms of wind, shallow water and rocks, as any experienced sailor knew. The North pier is definitely the place to avoid unless no other choice is available. Although they could have asked themselves what a sailing yacht was doing at sea during this weather to begin with, the rescuers had no time for questions. The Christien was already on her way out of the haven and the crewmembers were too busy peering about for some sign of the yacht. Perhaps there was no yacht at all. That would avert the danger they were all facing.

By this time, the Donateur was in place near the shoreline, ready at any moment to be pushed into the waves by the four crewmembers. This was going to be a struggle they would all remember, waves higher than six feet. Although perhaps an unequal struggle, heavy waves beating at an aluminium boat with a total length of just ten meters, the crew are determined, eager to save the lives of the people who may be aboard that yacht.

Once launched, coxswain van Wilgenburg steers his vessel straight into the waves, searching for depth. Then, he swings the vessel around, side to the waves, starting out at 10 to 12 knots and then gradually accelerating to 30 knots, based on the last message from the Coast Guard. The coxswain knows that his vessel is capable of this speed, even in this type of situation. He tells his crew to watch for floating debris or people, but to watch for high waves as well. At certain points, Van Wilgenburg steers his vessel nose directly into the waves, unwilling to risk having the boat capsized by a wave against port or starboard side. As the Christien nears the North pier, the crew scans the sea for signs of the yacht, but see nothing. The tower-high waves and foam reduce their vision to an area measuring little more than a few square metres.

The Christien now lies, nose toward the sea, about five hundred metres from the North pier, parallel to the pier’s dangerous rock formation. The crew peer through the waves towards the pier, looking for the people they are here to rescue. The sea is so wild, with so much movement in an extremely small area that they begin to wonder whether the alarm might not be false. It would be easy to mistake the wild movement of the waves with a yacht, or anything else for that matter. "There they are! People are waving from the pier, near the car headlights!" Langbroek also sees them and knows that the situation is serious. The throttle moves forward and the boat’s 1360 horsepower is finally put to maximum use. The Christien speeds into the waves, crossing the path of the Donateur as she races towards her target. The lifeboat from Wijk aan Zee arrives just a fraction earlier at the North pier.

At a distance of just tens of metres from the North pier, the crew of the Donateur are still unable to find the yacht. Still they continue searching, now that they have reached the North pier, there is no turning back. Captain van Wilgenburg yells to his crew: "This is it! If the yacht is there and we find people aboard, we’ll get them off. Grab whatever you can!" De Boer glances over at the captain, replying, "You bet we’ll get em off!"

Now the crew sees that their nightmare has become a reality as the yacht becomes visible, up against the pier, with each new wave throwing it into the air and against the rocks. Two crewmembers are trapped on the yacht.

"On deck!" yells Van Wilgenburg, steering the nose of his lifeboat directly into the waves, closer and closer to the stranded vessel. At just the right moment, the coxswain manoeuvres the Donateur, portside first, into position against the yacht, but the stranded sailors seem unwilling to move. "Let’s go!" the crew yell, doing their best to make clear to the people on the stranded vessel that they need to move to the foredeck. One of them gets the message, but the others seem unable to move and remain glued to their positions.

The Donateur has now moved away from the yacht. Coxswain Van Wilgenburg again steers his vessel into position when he sees the sailor move to the foredeck. The three crewmembers grab the man by his clothing and pull him aboard the lifeboat, but the Donateur is forced to move away from the yacht again before the other two sailors can be rescued. As they approach the yacht for the third time, they see that the yacht is empty. Bakker is the first to see one of the men in the water. "Man overboard!" he yells, pointing towards the man drifting on the waves and disappearing from time to time under the water. Seconds later, the lifeboat reaches the man, who is not wearing a lifejacket, is visibly exhausted and is rapidly drifting away from the yacht.

"Looks like it’s our turn now men!" Langbroek yells to his crew. Until that point, the crew of the Christien had been forced to idly observe as their colleagues on the Donateur handled the rescue attempt. Now, though, the crew of the Donateur was busy trying to save the man overboard. Coxswain Langbroek manoeuvres his vessel between the Donateur and the yacht. Lanser, Haasnoot and Hermans clamour aboard the yacht, but van der Hammen stays behind in the wheelhouse with the coxswain, giving him second-by-second reports on the distance between the Christien and the Donateur. "Four metres!" he exclaims. Out of the danger zone, coxswain Langbroek is able to focus on what is happening in front of him. On the foredeck of the stranded yacht, Haasnoot tells Hermans that he is going to jump overboard if the lifeboat is unable to reach them again. Faced with a major dilemma, Haasnoot has already made a decision. He thinks to himself, "We’ve got this far and I’m certainly not letting anyone drown before my eyes. I’d rather go down myself than allow that to happen!" On the Christien, Van der Hammen yells, "Five metres!"

Meanwhile, the three crewmembers, positioned on the narrow gangway of the Donateur, are working to pull in the man overboard, but he seems unable to help them in their attempts. At a certain point, the man pulls De Boer off the Donateur. Van Wilgenburg sees it happen and keeps his vessel as close to the two men as possible, not an easy task with waves this high.

The Christien moves away from the yacht again and Haasnoot jumps overboard without a moment’s hesitation. Captain Langbroek would give anything to be able to move his vessel back towards the crewmember in the sea, but is unable to move at all. Before him lie the rocks of the pier and Haasnoot, behind him lie the other lifeboat boat and a man overboard, while to his right and left, seven-metre high waves are dashing against the boat. What he needs to do at this point is keep his vessel as still as possible, a task made even more difficult because the foam was causing the water jets to take in more air than water, decreasing his ability to steer the vessel. "Four metres!"

As his colleagues watch in horror, Haasnoot is dashed into the air and back onto the yacht by a strong wave. Spitting water and gasping for air, he creeps towards the man he was trying to rescue. "Let’s go!" Haasnoot yells at the man, not knowing that the man is German and does not understand a word he is staying. "We’re not going to make it here! Follow me!" The man does not react, but Haasnoot has no time to wonder why, as a wave wipes the two men over the deck of the yacht. Luckily, they both manage to hold on.

The first thought that enters De Boer’s mind is: "I have to inflate my life jacket!" Although he knows that the life jacket will interfere with his attempts to keep his grip on the man he was rescuing, he also knows that he will need the extra flotation to keep himself and the man from going under. "How many of you were aboard?" coxswain van Wilgenburg asks the first man to be rescued. "Three of us", he replies briefly in German, exactly the response he had hoped to receive. "Throw out a line!" the coxswain yells to his crew, who is attempting to pull the other man out of the water. A difficult task at best with the waves beating wildly against the rescue boat, but made even more difficult by the man’s lack of response and by his weight, about 100 kilograms. With almost supernatural power, though, the two crewmembers are able to pull the man aboard, assisted by a push from De Boer from below the man. The effort involved in pulling the man in is so great that his jeans are torn to shreds in the process. De Boer manages to clamour on board with relative ease, assisted by his colleagues onto the vessel in a matter of seconds.

"All men aboard! Nine metres!" The distance between the two lifeboats increases gradually. Langbroek tells Richard to signal the others that it is time to return home, but his job is not yet finished. He manoeuvres the Christien back to the sinking yacht to rescue Haasnoot and the other German. His crewmembers throw a line out to Haasnoot. Seconds later the two men were pulled from the yacht into the water, with Haasnoot holding the line with one hand and doing his best to keep the man above water with the other. Not only does Haasnoot have problems keeping the man out of the water, he has to release the line when he and the man are dashed into the hull of the rescue boat by the waves.

Meanwhile, the crew of the Donateur is preparing to return to their berth, knowing that they will need to sail straight through the waves again to reach their destination. Coast Guard, Donateur here. We have two men on board. The other is being pulled aboard by the Christien. The yacht cannot be saved. We’re on our way back to the station. De Boer and Bakker gesture to the man lying on the aft deck that he needs to move to the wheelhouse, but the man stays put. At that moment, the Donateur falls into a particularly deep wave, throwing Bakker into the air and onto one the man they had rescued. The crew have little time to take care of the wound to the head that results from Bakker’s fall; the rescue boat needs to move into wider waters.

Once Haasnoot is able to grab the line again, Haasnoot and the other German are pulled onto the Christien with surprising speed. Hermans, Van der Hammen and Lanser pull them towards the overboard ladder at the side of the vessel and then help them aboard. Haasnoot is able to walk about the vessel almost immediately after being pulled aboard, but the man he had rescued is in bad shape. Clothed in nothing but his underwear, he lies exhausted in the gangway. The crewmembers yell to him to get up and walk, but he is unable to. Instead, he crawls slowly to the aft deck. Once he reaches the door, the five men step into the cabin as quickly as possible to avoid the danger represented by an open door in such weather conditions.

His first impulse is to return to Wijk aan Zee with the Donateur, but coxswain Van Wilgenburg decides to sail to the berth of the Christien when he hears that an ambulance is waiting there. As the two lifeboats enter the harbour, both captains notice damage to their vessels that they had not had time to notice in the heat of the fray. Langbroek was missing a windshield wiper and the backboard exhaust valve of the Donateur had sustained minor damage.

Once inside the pierheads, Langbroek asks the harbour authority for permission to sail full-speed ahead to the berth. He receives permission, luckily it seems because a new alarm has just been issued. A surfer was apparently having problems just South of the pierhead, but the alarm is cancelled as the two lifeboats moor and help their charges to land. The surfer is able to reach land without assistance. At this point, it is 16:20 hours.

The lifeboat crews leave their vessels and start spinning their stories in the IJmuiden station building. They had had enough for that day and they all knew that their respect for the North pier was very well founded.

(The KNRM later decided the crewmembers were to be awarded with silver and bronze medals. The coxswains Van Wilgenburg and Langbroek, as well as the crewmembers De Boer and Haasnoot received the silver medal of the KNRM, the other crewmembers received the bronze medal of the KNRM).

Board Update

Since 10/01

New Members:

AFRAS/RNLI 6

AFRAS 5

Donor Members 3

Trial Memberships 5

Renewals 9

Gifts sent by AFRAS

RNLI $58,150.00

VISAR $4,100.00

Ephraim Firefighters Assn $500.00

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