North and West African Search and Rescue (SAR) services have enhanced their skills further through an advanced coordination course in Agadir, Morocco attended by 15 SAR officers.
The officers, from Mauritania, Cape Verde, Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Morocco engaged in a series of simulated and live exercises and covered topics such as navigation, search planning, communication and SAR graphs and tables.
They all completed the initial training together, so as well as the advanced content there was also an opportunity to develop further the cooperation and collaboration between the services.
The course, held last month, was organied with the support of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF), the Government of Morocco and the German SAR services.
North and West SAR Regional Committee Chairman and coordinator of this training, Mohammad Drissi is delighted that the training, held over the last 18 months, is making a real difference, not just in the knowledge of the trainees but also in bringing the states in the region closer together.
Said Bruce Reid, IMRF Chief Executive: “The combination of these factors is dramatically improving the coordination and management of maritime SAR incidents across the North and West Africa SAR Region and will ultimately reduce the potential for lives being lost on the water.“
The most recent training was held at the High Moroccan Institute of Marine Fisheries and was delivered by Captain Dirk Stommel, an expert in Maritime SAR coordination as well as being head of the German Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) of Bremen.
Source and Image Credit: IMRF