Canterbury SAREX to Improve Marine Rescue Operations

Coastguard units in the Canterbury region are pooling their resources and expertise to participate in a full-scale Search & Rescue exercise (SAREX) around the Pegasus Bay and Banks Peninsula area this weekend.

Code named ‘Canterbury Moana 2010′, the exercise involves staging a number of marine incidents and is designed to text multiple search and rescue agencies’ standard operating procedure in response to a marine emergency.

In addition to the four Coastguard units (Canterbury Canterbury Air Patrol Waimak Ashley and Sumner), the SAREX is coordinated with other members of the Canterbury Marine Seach and Rescue committee including NZ Police, Westpac Rescue Helicopters, Surf Lifesaving and Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC).

Mark Whitehouse, Operations Manager for Coastguard Southern Region, says the aim of the SARAEX is to maintain operational readiness and increase interagency understanding of how to work together as one in search and rescue operations.

“A live exercise like this helps us to identify any areas where we could be working harder to improve our communication processes and increase safety on our waters – especially when we are working alongside other rescue operators.”

Mr Whitehouse says in the past 12 months, professional volunteers in the Coastguards Southern Region have spent 4.5% of their time on search and rescue operations and invested another 45% in training alone.

“Taking part in the SAREX plays an instrumental part in the ongoing instruction our volunteers receive to push them to the best of their ability, help them cope under pressure and give them the hands-on experience needed to train and prepare them for real-time marine rescues,” he says.

When: starting at 6pm Friday 30 July and finish 12 Noon Saturday 31 July 2010

Where: Canterbury Pegasus Bay and Banks Peninsula area