Marine Rescue NSW 2010 – 2011 holiday period busier than ever

by Marine Rescue Terrey Hills on 22 Jan 2011 Marine Rescue NSW update for this week.

The 2010 – 2011 summer holiday period was busier than ever, according to Terrey Hills Unit Commander Ron Woosey.

'In our area of operations between Broken Bay in the north and Port Hacking in the south we logged-on 330 vessels over the period, carrying around 700 people which is ten percent higher than the same period last year.'

The statistics were measured between 24 December 2010 and 2 January 2011. 'The amount of activity over the entire holiday period is likely to be the highest we have experienced thus far,' said Commander Woosey. The cause of the increase was likely a combination of fair weather and increasing public awareness of Marine Rescue NSW providing an essential safety service ranging from keeping a safety watch on vessels at sea to crews from local units responding to vessels needing assistance.

'While it is very pleasing that increasing numbers of boat users log-on, the reality is that it represents a small fraction of the number of boats that put to sea over the holidays. We would encourage everyone to log-on with Marine Rescue because for the slight inconvenience of providing your details at log-on, checking in and logging-off.

Boat users can have peace of mind knowing that if something goes wrong we have details about their boat, who is on board and their last position and intentions. This means we can render assistance quickly and efficiently,' added Commander Woosey.

While there was plenty of activity on the water, Commander Woosey praised skippers for the lack of serious incidents on the water. 'Apart from routine mechanical failures there were no serious incidents. Boaties should be very pleased with this effort but everyone who goes boating should keep safety uppermost in their minds, especially with the upcoming Australia Day weekend.'

Skippers wishing to log-on with Marine Rescue in the Sydney area should call Marine Rescue Sydney (Terrey Hills) or Marine Rescue Port Jackson (South Head) on 27 MHz channel 88 or VHF channel 16.

Marine Rescue NSW website