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Jersey’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre has been visited by a delegation from the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to conduct a peer review of the Jersey operation.
Later in the year, Jersey Coastguard will reciprocate by visiting the MCA’s own National Maritime Operations Centre in Hampshire.
Jersey Coastguard provides 24-hour search and rescue coverage from its Maritime Operations Centre in Maritime House, St Helier. In the event of an emergency, Coastguard officers can call up and coordinate all available search and rescue resources, including the Island’s lifeboats and inshore rescue craft, as well as boats and aircraft based close to the Island, such as helicopters in France and the UK.
Officers in the Maritime Operations Centre also provide a Vessel Traffic Service for the commercial ports of St Helier and Gorey – essentially an ‘air traffic control’ service for Jersey’s harbours.
Harbourmaster Captain Bill Sadler said: “Jersey Coastguard operates as a declared ‘Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre’, which means it meets international standards and is also regularly peer-reviewed by other MRCCs. This was achieved as part of a review following the Channiland incident in 1995, when a ferry struck La Frouquie rock off Corbière.
Kaimes Beasley, Maritime Operations Controller for HM Coastguard said: ‘The review visit is part of an ongoing programme of collaboration with Search & Rescue (SAR) colleagues to ensure instances of best practice are shared and observance of international requirements is maintained. Provision of search and rescue is not done in isolation, we all rely on international cooperation in the conduct of SAR operations. This was a successful week and we appreciate the contribution of Jersey’s emergency response stakeholders during the visit. We look forward to hosting our Jersey Coastguard colleagues at the UK National Maritime Operations Centre in the near future”.
