December 2016 DV e-News

NEXT GENERATION SEARCH AND RESCUE AIRCRAFT <http://www.amsa.gov.au/search-and-rescue/amsas-role-in-search-and-rescue/challenger/index.html> The first of Australia’s new dedicated search and rescue aircraft has officially been accepted into service in Cairns. This is the first of four Bombardier Challenger CL-604 jets to replace the tier one search and rescue aircraft used by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Acting Chief Executive Officer Gary Prosser said. “This capability is vital in Australia’s search and rescue response arrangements, in a vast area of about one tenth of the earth’s surface,” Mr Prosser said. Modifications have been made to the jets to allow vital stores, including survival equipment and satellite phones, to be delivered to people in distress. The aircraft also has a range of new technology on board including infra-red cameras to search at night and sensors to complement the trained air search observers on board the planes. “This is a significant investment in the safety of Australians and underpins AMSA’s commitment to Australia’s international obligations for aeronautical and maritime search and rescue,” Mr Prosser said. Two additional aircraft will come online in Perth and Melbourne in the coming months. An additional ancillary operational aircraft will also be based in Melbourne. AMSA’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre is headquartered in Canberra where a team of search and rescue officers work around the clock to coordinate responses to incidents. For more information about search and rescue in Australia go to www.amsa.gov.au/search-and-rescue

Volunteer Marine Rescue SA

Man charged following unauthorised radio transmissions at Victorian airports | ACMA

Man charged following unauthorised radio transmissions at Victorian airports <http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/Newsroom/Newsroom/Media-releases/man-charged-following-unauthorised-radio-transmissions-at-victorian-airports> Well done ACMA. This is what we need in SA to pin down the "routine" hoax caller on VHF marine

Tanker Captain is First Woman to Receive IMO's 'Exceptional Bravery at Sea' Award – gCaptain

Tanker Captain is First Woman to Receive IMO’s ‘Exceptional Bravery at Sea’ Award <http://gcaptain.com/tanker-captain-first-woman-receive-imos-exceptional-bravery-sea-award/> True spirit of being a mariner! Hats off

Volunteer Marine Rescue SA

Scuba diver stranded 16km off WA coast swims back to shore in middle of night

Cannot emphasise enough the importance of the radio logs ons. A night search is particularly hard particularly when the conditions are rough <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/11/scuba-diver-stranded-16km-off-wa-coast-swims-back-to-shore-in-middle-of-night>

Volunteer Marine Rescue SA

Volunteer Marine Rescue SA

Volunteer Marine Rescue SA

IFISH w TACKLEWORLD

It cannot get more marine "themed" than this!

World's Largest Ship Elevator Opens at Three Gorges Dam in Central China

Now, who would have thought of an elevator for ships? --------------- World's Largest Ship Elevator Opens at Three Gorges Dam in Central China Published on Sep 19, 2016 The world's largest ship elevator at the Three Gorges Dam opened in Yichang City, central China's Hubei Province, on Sunday, with a prospect to increase the shipping capacity past the dam by six million tons a year. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-9HFzjXDtY>

Photos from SA Sea Rescue Squadron's post

A state wide power outage was a good way to test our communication and back-up power systems at the Operations Centre. The back-up power held up quite well leading to uninterrupted operation of Coast Radio Adelaide and Sea Rescue Adelaide all through the day. At 1900 hours, the radio listening watch was passed on to two of our home bases in this gulf, Sea Rescue Fulham and Sea Rescue Hallett Cove. Both bases relied on their auxillary power sources to power up their radios until mains power was restored. This is when they switched over and continued their listening watch. This test ensured that we are prepared for harsh conditions like this that mother nature throws at us. Going back about 5 years, our 5KVA gen set would have powered just a few critical radios and a few lights. With a significant upgrade to our auxillary power system a few years ago, our entire Operations Centre can now be operated as normal in the event of a catostrophic power failure.