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The seventh meeting of the National Search and Rescue Board was held at Goa on 08 May 08. The meeting commenced with the inaugural address by the Chairman, Vice Admiral RF Contractor, AVSM, NM, Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG), followed by presentation by Asst Director (SAR), CGHQ on Report on SAR Activities 2007-08 and P Jayamani, Head of Department, SAC, ISRO Ahmedabad on Low Cost Distress Alert Transmitter(DAT) system developed by ISRO for fishermen.
The Chairman, in his inaugural address highlighted the importance of coordinated efforts for providing effective search and rescue for the ships and person in distress at sea. He brought out the efforts made by the merchant ships, fishing boat and the other resource agencies which resulted in rescuing in many lives in critical situations through coordination from MRCCs. The Chairman also alerted the members on the rising importance of the Indian ocean region due to globalisation and its effect on maritime transportation which has seen a increase in the merchant ships movement in the ISRR. He also stated that increase in tourism activities in the coastal area have place additional responsibilities to the SAR coordinators and elicited cooperation’s from member, specially the Coastal State governments to coordinate with the respective MRCCs/MRSCs.
The AD(SAR) apprised member of the efforts made by the Coast Guard for SAR for the year 2007-2008. He stated that 339 lives were saved which included 153 lives saved in coordination with merchant ships and fishing boats and 27 medical evacuation were carried out in the ISRR. The SAR Report presentation was followed by presentation of SAR Award by DGICG to MV Scan Brasil for her promptness in responding to a distress alert by MV Gerudu Empire in 16 Oct 07 thereby significantly contributing in saving 12 lives. The award was received by Mr. Jayaram Hegde, representative of M/S Scanscot Shipping Service, on behalf of the ship owners. The ESSAR SAR award for the year 2007 was presented to ICGS Kasturba Gandhi by Captain Jonathan P Lobo, Head of Quality and Safety, M/s Essar Shipping Limited, for Search and Rescue of eight crew from MT Abdul Kalam Azad in extreme adverse weather conditions and for carrying out Medical Evacuation from MV Nova Sea.
The meeting, started with review of the pending agenda points before discussing the agenda for the seventh meeting. Item wise deliberation and discussions on agenda points are enumerated in the succeeding paragraphs.
On completion of discussion on the agenda points, the rep of DG(S) with permission of the chair invited attention of board members to the fact that the most of shipping causalities generally take place during South West monsoon period and there is need for maintaining /ensuring availability of resources to meet any contingencies in our area of responsibility. He further highlighted the need for availability of twin engine helo to meet any SAR requirement during this period.
The Chairman in his closing address, he appreciated the valuable contribution made by the members during the discussions and brought out the need to address issues discussed in the meeting in a time bound manner. He stated that many such issues include preventive measures such as sea worthiness inspections and carriage of essential communication and life saving equipments by fishing boats and strict enforcement of operation of fishing boat by the state governments. The chairman requested active cooperation of all concerned agencies for ensuring that all efforts are made in preventing accidents occurring in the first place and for providing instant assistance through coordinated operations whenever and wherever required. Finally Chairman insisted the SAR Board member to actively participate in the annual meeting of the board. |
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Senior Officers of Indian Coast Guard during the Inaugural Session of NMSAR Board |
DGICG, Chairman, NMSAR Board, delivering the Inaugural speech |
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Deliberation of agenda points during the meeting of the NMSAR Board |
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Mr Jayram Hegde, representative of Scanscot Shipping receives the SAR award for MV Scan Brasil from DG ICG, Chairman, NMSAR Board |
Vice Admiral RF Contractor, AVSM.NM, DG ICG on discussion with NMSAR Board members. |
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© 2008 INDIAN COAST GUARD, Ministry Of Defence, Government Of INDIA |
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