Marine Rescue NSW’s new multipurpose vessel will be used in flood emergencies. The bow loading door provides access to shore. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.
Marine Rescue NSW volunteers in the Illawarra and South Coast are being trained to operate three new multipurpose boats for use in flood emergencies.
The new six-metre vessels will be based at Port Kembla, Shoalhaven and Tuross Heads and used in local operations, but can be quickly deployed across NSW to support the SES in times of emergencies.
Marine Rescue NSW Capability Manager Dave Bowing said the service now had 100 volunteers who could be deployed with assets at the request of NSW SES.
“When the SES have a requirement for search capacity or any other operational response requirement in relation to flood, they’ll contact Marine Rescue NSW and we will assemble the required number of crews and vessels and supporting assets and send them out wherever they may be required,” he said.
“They can respond locally or they can go right up north to Lismore, right down south to Eden or further afield west out to Deniliquin, even as far as Broken Hill, anywhere in NSW.”
Marine Rescue NSW’s Southern Zone has 26 endorsed volunteers with a further 40 still undergoing training.
The vessels are part of Marine Rescue’s response to recommendations from the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry.
The service received $3.748 million State Government funding to build capability and capacity to support NSW SES and other agencies during significant emergencies.
One of the new MPVs, which will be housed at the Port Kembla unit on Lake Illawarra. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.
When they are not required for flood rescue and support, the fleet of seven multipurpose vessels (MPVs) will be housed at units across NSW and used to assist boaters on local waterways. Another vessel is under construction.
Marine Rescue NSW Fleet Manager Kelvin Parkin said one of the drawcards of the MPVs was they were capable of operating in shallow waters.
“The draft on these boats is only point-three, so it’s very shallow and will allow us to get into areas that we’ve never been able to access before,” he said.
He said the bow loading door was also a vital feature, especially when providing flood support.
“The utility capability of this vessel allows us to carry multiple things, whether it’s restocking remote communities, evacuating large groups of people, livestock and feed for those animals, we’ve got plenty of space on the deck that we can actually load up and transport quite easily,” he said.
Marine Rescue NSW Illawarra Inspector Stuart Massey said the vessel induction for volunteers from the Port Kembla, Shoalhaven and Tuross Moruya units was extremely thorough.
“The training that we give our volunteers is comprehensive; it needs to be to make sure that we’re operating in a safe environment for them and also for the members of the public that we’re going out to assist,” he said.
“We do everything that we can to make sure that the induction is thorough and they understand fully how the vessels operate and also how they manoeuvre because quite often it is the close quarters manoeuvring that is the difficult thing to master.”
Original Article published by Jen White on Region Illawarra.
