SAR boost for Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Another gap in the effective search and rescue coverage along the coast of Africa and out into the Indian and Atlantic Oceans has been filled with the inauguration of a new Maritime Rescue Co ordination Centre (MRCC) in Cape Town, South Africa.

The MRCC was commissioned, on 16 January 2007, by IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos during an official visit to South Africa. The commissioning of the Centre was preceded by the formal signing of a Multilateral Agreement between the Governments of the Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa on the co-ordination of maritime search and rescue services in areas adjacent to their coast.

Mitropoulos, who unveiled a plaque at the new MRCC alongside South Africa’s Transport Minister, Mr. Jeff Radebe, described the centre as “a major step forward for this country and for this region, but also for the maritime and shipping world as a whole and for the international community of seafarers upon whom we all rely so much.”

“Situated at the hub of one of the world’s busiest trade routes, on the southern tip of the great continent of Africa, this regional Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre will plug one of the remaining gaps in the global search and rescue network and help to put at rest the minds of all those whose work takes them into its area of coverage, whether they be deep sea mariners or the 27,000 or more South Africans employed in the fishing industry,” he said, adding that, despite its benign name, the Cape of Good Hope frequently exposes seafarers to the extremes of weather and sea conditions.

More than 4,000 ships in transit pass by the Cape of Good Hope every year as they navigate South Africa’s coastline of nearly 3,000km.

The Cape Town MRCC is equipped with modern facilities and is manned by trained personnel. In addition to its primary function, it will also be able to offer training to personnel from the sub-regional Maritime Rescue Sub-Centres (MRSCs) planned to be located in Angola, Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique and Namibia.

The MRCC, and its subsidiary sub-centres, will cover sea areas extending up to 3,500 nautical miles into the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and to Antarctica in the south.

The first MRCC on the African coast was established in Mombasa, Kenya, in May 2006, covering the east coast of Africa and out into the Indian Ocean. The Cape Town MRCC covers southern Africa, while three more, in West Africa (in Nigeria, Liberia and Morocco), are currently at the planning stage.

Private donors (through Inmarsat plc and IMSO) have contributed equipment, while IMO, as project leader within the framework of its Integrated Technical Co-operation Programme, has collaborated with all parties concerned, co ordinated the various responsibilities in the provision of expert advice, training and infrastructure and provided the overall supervision.

The establishment of MRCCs and MRSCs in areas of the world lacking an adequate SAR infrastructure has been and is being supported by the International SAR Fund (ISAR Fund), a multi-donor trust fund, established in 2004 under the auspices of the IMO Secretary-General.