NSRI JetRIB Team

Winner IMRF Award for Innovation & Technology in Maritime SAR

The National Sea Rescue Institute of South Africa (NSRI) was nominated in the Innovation and Technology category for its development of the JetRIB.

Traditionally, the surf rescue vessels that are used all around the world are either small inflatables, rigid hull inflatable boats (3.8 to 4.7 meters in length) or jet skis. All these craft have their own strengths and challenges and the NSRI has been looking for a replacement for these traditional vessels for many years.

Any replacement vessel needed to improve crew and patient safety, be as environmentally friendly as possible and still be fast and agile in the surf zone.

NSRI’s new JetRIB is a clever combination of the four stroke Yamaha VX1050 Jet Ski with an extension hull and Hypalon pontoons. It has an environmentally friendly engine and being a jet drive, there is no propeller danger posed to the patient or rescue swimmers.

The added hull section has made the JetRib an incredibly stable rescue platform as well as giving it increased flotation. The pontoons are divided into four separate compartments for safety purposes.

There are many advantages to this new craft:

• Current surf rescue boats are almost impossible to operate in the surf zone with only the helmsman onboard, but on the JetRIB this can be done with ease, allowing for two rescue swimmers to be deployed.
• Picking up the rescue swimmers and the patient and returning to safety can be very challenging evening in the simplest of surf conditions. These sometimes tricky manoeuvres are now made safer by the incredible stability of the JetRIB, making the loading of crew and patients a lot less stressful in oncoming surf.
• The seating position for a crewman on the new JetRIB is behind the Coxswain on a soft padded and very comfortable seat, which eliminates the huge jarring impacts experienced on most surf rescue boats that are currently in use.

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Photo Gallery

View the photos on Flickr

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Videos

NSRI JetRib Team	IMRF Awards 2021 - Innovation and Technology Award

IMRF Awards 2021 - The Final Results

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