INTERNATIONAL REACH
Major incidents, particularly those involving
helping vessels stricken mid-ocean, will often
bring together two or more national rescue
organisations to get a result. While previous
rescue operational procedures used phones
to relay information between the Coastguard
and the relevant rescue assets, including
position information, today’s operation
passes information through a computer,
reducing the chance of errors being made.
The new NMOC centre can also see every
EPIRB activated anywhere in the world and
when the device is UK registered, staff will
liaise with other countries to initiate a rescue.
In the case of mid-Atlantic rescues, this often
involves working with the Canadian or US
Coastguard. On occasion, the Fareham team
find themselves talking to countries the UK
wouldn’t normally be in official comms with.
‘Not that long ago we had a beacon go
off in Iranian waters,’ explains David Hurden,
one of the NMOC operations officers.
‘I studied Arabic at university, but I think
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard was a
bit surprised to hear from us. They were
guarded about a call from the UK, but their
response to our request for help couldn’t be
faulted. In minutes, one of their own rescue
vessels was on its way to assist a British-
registered ship that had found itself in trouble.’
David has a live view of EPIRBs all over the
world as they are activated. The rescue assets
used on operations far offshore vary a lot.
Commander Carson explains, ‘Beyond the
range of helicopter rescue, we sometimes
call on the help of the RAF who can provide
fixed wing support which can head a long way
offshore in a search. But quite often we will
get in touch with nearby commercial ships or
the assets of other Coastguards around theworld. The decision-making process that I
or one of the other NMOC commanders is in
charge of is more empowered by technology
than ever. We know where the EPIRB is,
where commercial ships are travelling
and what assets we have available almost
instantly. Furthermore, it now all generally
happens here in one room, streamlining
the process and speeding up the response.’MODERNISATION
With its origins in protecting the UK’s
vulnerable coastline from smuggling,
the Coastguard is no stranger to evolving
to meet the demands of the age. Today’s
operation has had to contend with several
key changes in national search and rescue
strategy while still covering the UK’s diversewaters – thousands of square nautical miles
with ever-growing amounts of traffic.
Among the numerous vessels they come
to the assistance of every year are leisure
sailors. With coverage extending to over 200
miles from the UK coastline, if you have an
emergency any distance offshore on a sailing
yacht, it’s likely one of the Coastguard’s
latest-generation aircraft will be first on
the scene to whisk you ashore to hospital.
The bright yellow Sea King rescue
aircraft of the Royal Air Force and their red
counterparts from the Royal Navy were, for
decades, an icon of UK search and rescue. In
the tragic 1979 Fastnet race, the fundamental
importance of early rescue helicopters was
cemented as survivors were hauled from
the Irish Sea in still-appalling conditions.Colin Cadle Photography/ AlamyTHE KNOWLEDGE
The NMOC was designed
to improve how effectively
all rescues are coordinatedThe legendary but aging
Sea King military fleet
has been phased out