The IMRF once again welcomed global maritime SAR community to its fourth MRO SME course. This year’s event took place in late June at HM Coastguard JRCC in Fareham, United Kingdom.

This year’s MRO SME course was the first-ever IMRF event attended by the organisation’s Patron, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, since he took the role last year. With a distinguished career in the UK’s Royal Navy and as a Vice President at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Sir Tim took a keen interest and also offered some thoughtful comments on MROs.

More than 30 personnel from 11 international maritime SAR organisations gathered in Fareham for this year’s event, which was facilitated by Tom Gorgol and Rod Elkins of the US Coast Guard’s MRO team, alongside members of the IMRF team.

The course consisted of several individual and group training sessions, enabling participants to discuss some of the main challenges and best practices involved with modern MRO incidents, allowing for a fruitful discussion on how maritime SAR organisations can be best prepared for such events.

This includes:

·       The importance of careful assessment of each emergency, learning from past incidents, and the need for planning, exercising, and testing MRO plans.

·       The role of various entities in an MRO, including the On-Scene Coordinator (OSC), SAR administrators, SAR responders, ship owners, operators, and other authorities.

·       The importance of regular training in MRO procedures and the encouragement of developing an MRO culture within SAR coordination and response organisations.

·       The use of IAMSAR Vol III as a reference for OSCs, the need for clear instructions from the SAR Mission Coordinator, and the importance of community involvement in the shoreside response to MRO.

The course also covered the complexity and challenging nature of MROs owing to the large number of people involved and the urgent nature of the situations. During the course, participants highlighted some common challenges in MRO situations, such as:

·       Coordination: Managing a large number of rescue units and ensuring effective communication between them can be difficult.

·       Resources: There may be a lack of sufficient resources such as rescue vessels, aircraft, and personnel to handle the large number of people involved in an MRO.

·       Communication: Ensuring clear and effective communication with the people in distress, as well as between different rescue units, can be challenging.

·       Logistics: The logistics of transporting a large number of people to safety, providing them with medical care, and meeting their basic needs can be complex.

·       Environment: MROs often occur in challenging environments, such as at sea or in remote locations, which can make rescue efforts more difficult.

·       Time: In MRO situations, time is of the essence. Rapid response and efficient operations are crucial to saving lives.

·       Planning and Training: There may be a lack of adequate planning and training for MRO situations, which can lead to confusion and delays during the actual operation.

As part of the IMRF’s commitment to providing relevant information to its membership, Roly McKie has written a course report, which includes more information on some of the main observations and lessons for maritime SAR organisations. This report will be made available to members in due course.

You can also access the IMRF’s library of MRO materials, which includes our MRO Summary Guidance and Example MRO Plans, alongside a host of other usual pieces of information, including podcasts and blogs. Click here to access that material for free.