On 16th September 2013 the Training Course for On-Scene Co-coordinator was held in Shenzhen by the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF).

IMRF Asia Pacific Regional Centre (APRC) and Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport coordinated to undertake training course. 

More than 30 people from the China Maritime Search and Rescue Centre (MRCC) and China Rescue and Salvage (CRS) have attended the training course.

The opening ceremony of training course was formally opened by Mr. ZhangRong, Deputy Manager of APRC. Mr. Lin Zhihao, Secretary of Nanhai Rescue Bureau and Captain Udo Fox have been invited to attend the opening ceremony.

At the opening ceremony, Mr Lin Zhihao, on behalf of Captain Song and Mr Zhenliang Wang, Director General of China Rescue and Salvage, delivered an opening speech expressing a warm welcome to all the attendees and heartfelt thanks to Captain Udo Fox, who was a maritime search and rescue expert making a special trip from Germany to china to give us his precious lectures.

In response, Mr Lin Zhihao briefly introduced APRC and the situation of Nanhai Rescue Bureau. He emphasized to work on the cooperation between CRS and MRCC, special for the importance of information exchanges and rescue resources sharing.

Mr Lin also pointed out, with the development of China's economy and society, maritime search and rescue work was facing new challenges. As a result, the common task for MRCC and CRS was to handle marine risk accident properly in the recent maritime. He hoped that all the attendees for the training should cherish the learning opportunity and apply the maritime rescue skill knowledge into practice and contribute to the smooth completion of the search and rescue mission for the future.

Captain Udo Fox has introduced IMRF history briefly, the status quo and development ideas, especially to promote regional development strategy. He considered the training course was a milestone and a historic date. For the first time IMRF, through its APRC provides practical training about the important function of an On-Scene Co-ordinator during search and rescue operations. It was a task, which has burdened responsibility on the shoulders of those individuals chosen for.

This training, a communication meeting of international maritime search and rescue technology, was the first training courses in China held by IMRF and APRC. Training has paid attention to maritime search and rescue emergency management and research on maritime rescue skills. The attendees could obtain the maritime search and rescue theoretical knowledge and On-Scene Co-coordinator skills, involving the on-site command and disposal of the emergency from the analysis of typical cases and maritime distress communication.