In December 2019 the IMRF and the IMO held The East Africa SAR Regional Meeting, hosted by the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (TASAC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and including SAR professionals from Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda, and the Seychelles.

Representatives from the Tanzania aeronautical SAR sector, the Navy, Marine Police, the shipping and fishing Industries, and local ports, including Zanzibar Port, also attended, offering a valuable opportunity to discuss challenges faced and experiences shared across the maritime sector.

A SAR Administration and Management Training course followed the Regional Meeting, which brought together SAR professionals from the East Africa and South Africa SAR regions.

The course included a case study featuring a fishing boat on fire off the Moroccan coast with 12 people on board needing immediate assistance and culminated in a visit to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Dar es Salaam.

All those attending welcomed the chance to exchange ideas and experience. 

The wide-ranging discussions covered the legal aspects of SAR, coastal states duties and liabilities, SAR system components and functions, relevant aspects of aeronautical and maritime SAR, national and international SAR cooperation, the duties of MRCC and SAR coordinators and an introduction to mass rescue operations.

Theresa Crossley, CEO IMRF said: “This has been a very successful training course with all those attending taking an enormous amount of shared experience and learning back to their respective organisations.“