Finishing with SAR operations

.1 What is the result of search?

.1.1 The result of search is negative.

.2 Sighted

~ vessel in position....

~ lifeboats / life rafts in position....

~ persons in water /... in position....

.3 Continue search in position....

.4 Can you pick up survivors?

.4.1 Yes, I can pick up survivors.

.4.2 No, I cannot pick up survivors.

.5 MV... / I will proceed to pick up survivors.

.5.1 Stand by lifeboats / liferafts.

.6 Picked up

~... survivors in position....

~... lifeboats / liferafts (with... persons / casualties) in position....

~... persons / casualties in lifejackets in position....

~... in position....

.7 Survivors in bad / good condition.

.8 Do you require medical assistance?

.8.1 Yes, I require medical assistance.

.8.2 No, I do not require medical assistance.

.9 Try to obtain information from survivors.

.10 There are

~ still... lifeboats / liferafts with survivors.

~ no more lifeboats / liferafts.

.11 Total number of persons on board was....

.12 All persons /... persons rescued.

.13 You / MV... may stop search and proceed with voyage.

.14 There is no hope to rescue more persons.

.15 We finish with SAR operations.

B2/6 Search and rescue o n-board activities

For details see also IAMSAR Manual, London/Montreal, 1998.

B2/6.1 Checking equipment status

.1 Check the lifebuoys and report.

.1.1 All lifebuoys are complete.

.1.2 Lifebuoy(s) at... is / are damaged / missing.

.1.2.1 Replace the damaged / missing lifebuoy(s).

.2 When was the last man overboard drill?

.2.1 Last man overboard drill was on... (date).

.3 Prepare a plan for man overboard drill.

.3.1 Prepare a plan for

~ an announced / not announced drill.

~ a daytime / nighttime drill.

~ a muster (at all stations).

~ a recovering manoeuvre (with dummy / buoy).

.4 Have a drill / manoeuvre / muster on... (date).

B2/6.2 Person-overboard activities

.1 Man overboard (on port side / starboard side / astern)!

.2 Drop lifebuoy(s).

.2.1 Sound " man overboard" alarm.

.3 Hoist flag signal " Oscar".

.4 Hard-a-port / hard-a-starboard the wheel.

.5 Is person in water / lifebuoy located?

.5.1 Yes, person in water / lifebuoy located.

.5.2 Report direction and distance of person in water / lifebuoy.

.5.2.1 Direction at... points port side / starboard side /... degrees, distance...

metres.

.5.2.2 Maintain visual contact to person in water / lifebuoy.

.5.3 No, person in water / lifebuoy not located (yet).

.5.3.1 Look out for person in water / lifebuoy and report.

.5.4 Passenger / crew member missing (for... hours / since... UTC)

- search in vessel negative.

.5.4.1 Stop engine(s).

.5.4.2 Transmit alarm signal - PAN-PAN / distress alert - MAYDAY to radio coast station / Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre / vessels in vicinity and report.

.5.4.3 Alarm signal - PAN-PAN / distress alert - MAYDAY transmitted /

acknowledged by... / not acknowledged (yet)..

.6 Return manoeuvre! Port / starboard, steer... degrees.

.7 Report position.

.7.1 Position....

.8 Report traffic situation.

.8.1 No vessel in vicinity.

.8.2 Following vessel(s) in vicinity....

.9 Report weather situation.

.9.1 Sea smooth/moderate/rough/high – swell slight/moderate/heavy from.. (cardinal points).

.9.2 Winds force Beaufort... from... (cardinal points).

.9.3 Visibility good/moderate/poor.

.9.4 Current... knots to... (cardinal points).

.10 Have man overboard stations / lookouts at... manned and report.

.10.1 Man overboard stations / lookouts at... manned.

.11 Stand by for recovering from shipboard and report.

.11.1 Standing by for recovering from shipboard.

.12 Stand by boat / motor lifeboat no.... for letting go and report.

.12.1 Rescue boat / motor lifeboat no.... standing by for letting go.

.13 Let go rescue boat / motor lifeboat.

.14 Use VHF Channel... / frequency... for communication.

.14.1 Use light signals / flag signals / whistle for communication.

.15 What is retreat signal for rescue boat / motor lifeboat?

.15.1 Retreat signal....

.16 Stand by one / two crew member(s) for rescue in water and report.

.16.1 One / two crew member(s) standing by for rescue in water.

.17 Person overboard rescued / recovered.

.18 Stand by boat / rescue litter / rescue net / rescue basket / rescue sling and

report.

.18.1 Boat / rescue litter / rescue net / rescue basket / rescue sling standing by.

.19 Hoist person and report.

.20 Report condition of survivor.

.20.1 Survivor

~ is in good / bad condition.

~ has hypothermia.

~ is injured.

~ is suffering from shock.

.20.2 Person is dead.

B2/6.3 Rescue operation - reporting readiness for assistance

See also A1/1.2 " Search and rescue communications"

.1 Received an alarm signal / PAN-PAN /

distress alert - MAYDAY at... UTC on... (VHF Channel/frequency).

.2 Observed the following distress signal in... degrees.

.3 Report the distress position.

.3.1 Distress position....

.4 Was the alarm signal / PAN-PAN / distress alert - MAYDAY acknowledged?

.4.1 The alarm signal / PAN-PAN / distress alert - MAYDAY was acknowledged by... / not acknowledged (yet)..

.4.2.1 Acknowledge the PAN-PAN / distress alert - MAYDAY - RELAY.

.4.3 Transmit a MAYDAY - RELAY to... (radio station).

.5 Watch the radar.

.6 Have the lookouts manned and report.

.6.1 Lookouts are manned.

.7 Contact vessels in vicinity of the distress and report.

.7.1 We have contact to following vessel(s) in vicinity of the distress:.....

.7.2 We have no contact (yet).

.8 Request information from the vessel in distress and report.

.8.1 We have following information from the vessel in distress:....

.8.2 We have no information (yet).

.9 Stand by lines / lifebuoys / nets / derricks / cranes /... and report.

.9.1 Lines / lifeboats / nets / derricks / cranes /... standing by.

.10 Stand by lifeboats / rescue boat and report.

.10.1 Lifeboats / rescue boat standing by.

.11 Stand by liferaft(s) as boarding station(s) and report.

.11.1 Liferaft(s) standing by as boarding station(s).

.11.2 Let go liferaft(s) as boarding station(s) with... crew members (each).

.13 Stand by... crew members for assisting survivors in water and report.

.13.1... crew members standing by for assisting survivors in water.

.14 Switch on the deck lighting / outboard lighting / search lights.

.15 Stand by line throwing apparatus and report.

.15.1 Line throwing apparatus standing by.

B2/6.4 Conducting search

.1 We / MV... will act as On-scene Co-ordinator.

.1.2 Inform radio coast station(s) / MRCC/ vessels in vicinity.

.2 Stand by bridge team / lookouts for information / signals of On-scene Co-ordinator.

.2.1 Following information / signal received from On-scene Co-ordinator:

.3 We carry out search pattern... / radar search.

.3.1 We start search pattern... radar search at... UTC.

.3.1.1 Inform the crew / lookouts / engine room.

.4 Bridge team / lookouts!

Keep sharp lookout for signals / sightings of the vessel in distress and report

every... minutes.

.4.1 Light signals / smoke signals / sound signals /... signals in... degrees.

.4.2 Objects / vessel in distress / lifeboat(s) / life raft(s) / person(s) in water

in... degrees

.5 Stand by rescue team / boat crews / engine room and report.

.5.1 Rescue team / boat crews / engine room standing by.

.6 Transmit the following information / signals to the searching vessel(s):....

B2/6.5 Rescue activities

See also B2/6.2 " Person-overboard activities"

.1 Rescue persons in following order:

- persons in water

- injured / helpless persons

- women and children

- passengers

- crew/members.

.2 Ask the survivor(s) the following information:

.2.1 What was the total number of persons on board the vessel in distress?

.2.1.1 Total number of persons was:....

.2.2 What was the number of casualties?

.2.2.1 Number of casualties was:....

.2.3 What was the number of lifeboats / liferafts launched?

.2.3.1 Number of lifeboats / liferafts launched was:....

.2.4 What was the number of persons in lifeboats / liferafts?

.2.4.1 Number of persons in lifeboats / liferafts was:....

.2.5 What was the number of persons in water?

.2.5.1 Number of persons in water was:....

.3 Inform... coast radio station about the name(s) / call sign(s) and destination

of the vessel(s) with the survivors.

.3.1 Inform about the number of survivors on (each) vessel.

.3.2 Inform about the condition of the survivors.

.4 Inform... coast radio station about the condition of the vessel in distress:

.4.1 The vessel in distress

~ capsized / sunk / adrift (near position...) / drifting in... degrees.

~ grounded (in position:...).

~ on fire.

~ not under command.

.5 Transmit the following safety message / navigational warning:

Vessel in distress (in position...) danger to navigation.

B2/6.6 Finishing with search and rescue operations

.1 Search and rescue finished at... UTC.

.1.1 Inform the crew / lookouts / engine room.

.2 We resume on-board routine at... UTC.

.3 Inform the coast radio station / searching vessels

about the cancellation of search and rescue.

.4 We proceed with our voyage.

4.3

Examples of SAR communications:

VHF COMMUNICATIONS IN SAR OPERATIONS

Adapted from P. Trenkner: Search and Rescue Operations, Rostock 1989

Example 1: Preparing for SAR Operations

Vessel in distress: MV ‘LIST’.

MV " ORADA" was on the way from Antwerp to New Orleans when a distress alert was released by the autoalarm. Several minutes later the watchkeeping officer received the following distress message on MF:

M.v. " ORADA", which was in position 37.38 N 42.31 W, acknowledged the distress message, altered her course and proceeded at a speed of 18 knots to the distressed ship immediately. She expected to reach the vessel at 15.00 hrs UTC, two and a half hours after receiving the distress alert.

Three other vessels also acknowledged the distress alert from the sinking ship and altered their courses to proceed to the scene of distress.

Motor vessel " TUNA" had a speed of 16 knots. Her ETA was 16.00 hrs UTC.

Motor vessel " DOLPHIN" expected to reach the distressed ship at 16.30 hrs UTC. She had only a speed of 14 knots.

Steamship " BRANCIN" was the nearest to the scene of disaster but, having a speed of 12 knots, she expected to reach the distress position only by 16.45 hrs UTC.

These four ships picked up the next and the last distress message from the motor vessel " LIST" which read as follows:

MV " ORADA" acknowledged this message as follows:

Since this message was not acknowledged by " LIST", the motor vessel " ORADA" sends the following message:

Three other vessels declared their readiness to take part in search and rescue and accepted the MV " ORADA" as Co-ordinator of Surface Search (or On-Scene Commander, OSC).

All necessary preparations for search and rescue were made.

Lifeboats were cleared for lowering, boat ladders, ropes and net slings were rigged and crew members kept a sharp lookout.

Continuous listening watch was kept but no further message was received neither from the wreck nor from the lifeboats or the raft.

Example 2: On-Scene SAR communication exchanges:

(adapted from P. Trenkner: Search and Rescue Operations, Rostock 1989

CSS Co-ordinator Surface Search (or OSC)

Ship in distress: sailing yacht SAGENA

Ships engaged on the scene of SAR operations:

MV “Manta Ray” (MR)

MV “Sushi” (SU)

MV “Hake” (HK)

Search and Rescue (SAR) in Canada

Rescue Co-ordination and Alerting

Rescue Co-ordination Centres and Maritime Rescue Sub-Centres

The Canadian Coast Guard jointly staffs three Rescue Coordination Centres (RCCs) with the Canadian Forces. The RCCs are located at Victoria, British Columbia, Trenton, Ontario, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Canadian Coast Guard also operates two Maritime Rescue Sub-Centres (MRSCs) at Quebec City, Quebec, and St. John's, Newfoundland. The function of a MRSC is to reduce the RCC's workload in areas of high marine activity. These centres are staffed by SAR Co-ordinators who operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year round. The maritime area for which the Canadian RCCs/MRSCs are collectively responsible for is more than 5.3 million square kilometres.

The RCCs/MRSCs are responsible for the planning, co-ordination, conduct and control of SAR operations. RCCs/MRSCs have highly trained staff, detailed operational plans and an effective communications system. Once an RCC/MRSC is notified that a person(s) is in danger, the SAR Co-ordinator begins to organize the rescue. All available information about the person(s) in danger is gathered and recorded and the positions of potential assisting resources in the area of the incident are determined. SAR Co-ordinators are trained to evaluate various situations and send the most effective resources to deal with a particular incident. In complex and major incidents, many resources are often sent or tasked to assist.

On-Scene Co-ordinator

In large searches involving many resources, an On-Scene Co-ordinator (OSC) for the incident may be chosen by the SAR Co-ordinator. The OSC is the local contact for the SAR Co-ordinator. The OSC gives direction to the resources involved on where and how to search and regularly reports progress. The OSC is usually the Commanding Officer of a government vessel with an experienced crew.

Rescue Alerting, Detection and Communications

Visual, audible and electronic methods are used by vessels to indicate distress. Visual methods include items such as distress flares and international signal flags. Audible methods include whistles and horns. Electronic methods include radios and beacons. The following are a few highlights.

For IMO recommended communications see SMCP 2001 and ITU International Code of Signals (ICS).

The most useful www site can be found at: IMLA INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ENGLISH CONFERENCE (IMEC), formerly WOME: https://home.planet.nl/~kluijven/

5. (Part 5) ROUTINE COMMUNICATIONS

(under construction)

For routine voice (VHF) communications concerning ship handling operations, cargo operations, navigation, collision regulations, etc. see also relevant units in:

- The Seafarers’ Language Course, Conrad Publ., 1985 (+ cassettes)

- Pritchard, B. (2000), Maritime English, Udine, Del Bianco Editore

- Kluijven, Peter: IMLA-IMEC website for Maritime English: https://home.planet.nl/~kluijven/

SUPPLEMENTS

(recommended reading from the internet websites):

1.