The International Maritime Organization has published a new video focused on search and rescued (SAR) in Polar Regions. The video follows the launch of one in May on the IMO Polar Code.
The video looks at how the current lack of marine infrastructure, coupled with the vastness and harshness of the environment, makes emergency response significantly more difficult in the Arctic and Antarctica. The limitations of radio and satellite communications to monitor and control ship movements in polar waters is considered.
The new video also explores the IMO’s International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue – the SAR Convention – which was adopted in 1979. Under the SAR Convention, individual countries are responsible for specified search and rescue regions, together forming the Global Search and Rescue Plan. A network of rescue coordination centers and sub-centers has been established and, together, they cover all the world’s oceans.
It features an exclusive meeting with Commander Rodrigo Lepe, former Chief of the Chilean Navy base at Bahia Fildes on King George Island in Antarctica. The interview highlights the unique challenges he and his team face to ensure sound search and rescue practices in such a remote and inhospitable area.
