Search & rescue service reduced in southeast

Morpheus

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0315/coastguard.html

Search & rescue service reduced in southeast
Monday, 15 March 2010 09:07

RTÉ News has learned that the Department of Transport is planning to downgrade the Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter service in the southeast.

Search and rescue helicopter bases in Dublin, Shannon and Sligo are to remain with 24-hour cover, but the Waterford service operated from Waterford regional airport is to be reduced to a 12-hour, daylight only service. This would save an estimated €1m per year.

Fishermen's organisations, RNLI members and politicians in the southeast have expressed outrage at the downgrading of the service.

The Department of Transport received proposals from seven private companies for the lucrative 10-year, nationwide search and rescue helicopter contract, which is up for tender and is believed to be worth around €500m.

The Canadian helicopter company CHC, which currently operates the service for the Coast Guard around the country, has been told that it is the preferred bidder.

after everything thats happened in waterford down through the years and the promises made to replace the then dauphin that crashed (RIP) with dedicated 24hr service, why doesnt this action by our penny pinching bunch of criminals in govt surprise me. . . this is incredulous behaviour... i feel sick.:mad:

concussion

To save a million Euro...what a joke.

Steyr

Personally i believe this wont go ahead, heads will roll if it does.

Morpheus

I for one hope that you are right Steyr...

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0316/1224266352419.html

FISHING INDUSTRY organisations and Opposition politicians have expressed alarm at a proposed cutback to daytime search and rescue at the Irish Coast Guard’s southeast base.

The Department of Transport said that nothing was imminent and that the change from around the clock to 12-hour daytime only cover proposed at Waterford would come into effect in three years time.

Under a new air/sea rescue contract which the department is negotiating for 2012-13, all four rescue bases at Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford will be provided with faster and more highly equipped helicopters, possibly Sikorsky S-92s.

The existing €30 million annual contract will be increased to €50 million from 2012 to cover the extra cost, but with a saving in Waterford from 2013.

The increased speed of the new helicopters may allow the Dublin and Shannon bases to cover the west, south and east at night.

Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey said the decision to reduce night-time cover at Waterford represented a “disgraceful disregard for the safety of lives. This latest cut means that any casualty, be it a swimmer, fisherman or otherwise, that gets into difficulty after 9pm in the evening off the southeast coast will have to wait an extra 40 minutes at least for the arrival of a sea-rescue helicopter.”

Mr Coffey said that after the loss of four Air Corps crew in the Dauphin helicopter crash of July 1999 at Tramore, Co Waterford, then minister for the marine Michael Woods had said he was “very anxious that an all-weather night-flying helicopter service” be reinstated at Waterford “as soon as possible”.

The southeast base has been run by CHC Helicopters on contract to the Irish Coast Guard since the Air Corps withdrew from search-and-rescue activity.

Donny5

I disagree with this, too, Steyr, but heads would not roll. SAR is nowhere near a big enough issue. It would be forgotten by most minutes after the bulletin announcing it.

Norwayviking

Morphéus wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0315/coastguard.html


after everything thats happened in waterford down through the years and the promises made to replace the then dauphin that crashed (RIP) with dedicated 24hr service, why doesnt this action by our penny pinching bunch of criminals in govt surprise me. . . this is incredulous behaviour... i feel sick.:mad:

Sometimes human lifes have to be sacrified for ignorant politicians to get the picture.
I work as a captain on a offshorevessel in the north sea,and knowing that you have 24 hours SAR service all year around is a must.
Have been working offshore also in Ireland on the westcoast on occation,but this came as a shock to me i have to say.
So i dont hope anyone on a ship/fishing boat gets into trouble along the Irish coast in the future if this is the case.

ex_infantry man

there is an online petition for this and a facebook page lads get as many people as you can behind this!!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/sar01/

don,t let this be forgotten

Donny5

ex_infantry man wrote: »

there is an online petition for this and a facebook page lads get as many people as you can behind this!!!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/sar01/

don,t let this be forgotten

No offense, but online petitions are worthless.

ex_infantry man

why do ya think that? ? ?

Tabnabs

Norwayviking wrote: »

Sometimes human lifes have to be sacrified for ignorant politicians to get the picture.
I work as a captain on a offshorevessel in the north sea,and knowing that you have 24 hours SAR service all year around is a must.
Have been working offshore also in Ireland on the westcoast on occation,but this came as a shock to me i have to say.
So i dont hope anyone on a ship/fishing boat gets into trouble along the Irish coast in the future if this is the case.

To be fair, that's a bit over the top. The proposal is to have Dublin, Shannon & Sligo on 24 hour duty, with Waterford on 12 hour watch. So the south coast will not have 24 coverage from a local source. All of the offshore work being undertaken on the west coast will be covered 24/7

Donny5

ex_infantry man wrote: »

why do ya think that? ? ?

There's no verication of identity, which means:

1. You can sign them as many times as you want.
2. You can sign other people's names.
3. You can write a script to sign them.
4. You can sign them if you're outside the relevant area (Ireland, in this case).

The UK government has a petitions site, which has been somewhat effective, but it is open to UK citizens and residents only, and they have verification.

Other online petitions are a waste of time, and detract from the issue because people think their signature counts and that they've done their bit, when they've done nothing.

"They're created by people too lazy to do the real thing, and then signed by people too stupid to understand, or not interested enough to care."


If you want to stop the proposal, create a real petition, which requires actual signatures and addresses. It would carry far more weight.

Morpheus

it is not over the top.

You will have to float around and possibly succumb to the elements / drown while waiting for rescue in a situation where frankly longevity of someones survival is measured purely on the response time of the rescue services.

An online petition is better than no petition.

This p0xy Govt's penny pinching decisions continue to sicken me.

They should be shaking down their various departments and reorganising / rebuilding these for the future to make them FAR more efficient and saving money that way instead of risking lives by scaling back on the important services now in an effort to appear proactive instead of reactive. It smacks of yet another knee-jerk response without any forethought for those directly affected.

The sooner the population gets up off its affluent backside, shakes out the hangover, realises its standing amid the tatters of the aftermath of a celtic tiger fabrication and kicks out the shortsighted parties in power now, the sooner the country can drag itself to its hands and knees and REAL recovery can begin.

Storm 10

Donny5 wrote: »

I disagree with this, too, Steyr, but heads would not roll. SAR is nowhere near a big enough issue. It would be forgotten by most minutes after the bulletin announcing it.

You are so wrong there, the fishermen, yacht clubs and ferries companies etc would not let go of this one I can assure you they will change their minds on it. Already there is talk by Trawler owners of blocking all the main ports if it was passed and they would do it.

Its a crazy idea and needs to be dropped

Morpheus

they should be buying MORE maritime patrol aircraft too.
This is one area where MORE investment is needed not less.
plus dont know why they dont procure these aircraft themselves instead of perpetually paying someone else for their rental.

Norwayviking

Dyflin wrote: »

To be fair, that's a bit over the top. The proposal is to have Dublin, Shannon & Sligo on 24 hour duty, with Waterford on 12 hour watch. So the south coast will not have 24 coverage from a local source. All of the offshore work being undertaken on the west coast will be covered 24/7

We will see what happens?Anyway i wouldnt like to be a fisherman from Waterford.

ex_infantry man

Norwayviking wrote: »

We will see what happens?Anyway i wouldnt like to be a fisherman from Waterford.

this aint just a problem for waterford fishermen norwayviking there,s more than just waterford fishermen off the south east coast trawling there,s french,spanish,british and irish fishermen in the eu limits that require protection

Norwayviking

ex_infantry man wrote: »

this aint just a problem for waterford fishermen norwayviking there,s more than just waterford fishermen off the south east coast trawling there,s french,spanish,british and irish fishermen in the eu limits that require protection

Yeah that is true.
I have been passing by there on several occations,and its a busy shipping lane as well.
But i dont wanna go into a discussion with someone that have never been on a boat before,(Dyflin),something i do every day.
And i am getting rather tired of explaining it.
Sometimes you have to try it to believe it.
A cople of years ago we had to send one of our guys onboard to hospital with a heart attack,and if it wasnt for the coastguard here in Aberdeen,uk he wouldnt be a live today.
And every minute counts in these situation.
The good thing is that we had heartstarter onboard,and managed to get his heart started before the chopper arrived.
But heartstarters are not by rules or regulations required onboard ships.
Why, because it costs money,and politicians have decided it is not nessasary.
The one we have onboard was bought from our company cause we requested it,and after the incident we had , almost all the offshoreboats have one onboard now.
But its still not compulsory by law!!!
A heartstarter cost 2500 euros,and can save someones life.
So having SAR nearby 24 hours is a must.No matter where you are.

Heres a video from the north sea offshore work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfRs6upuj20

And another thing to remember is that theres around 10000 shipwrecks along the coast of ireland for a reason,and its one of the worst coastlines in the world when it comes to bad weather.

Tabnabs

Norwayviking wrote: »

Yeah that is true.

But i dont wanna go into a discussion with someone that have never been on a boat before,(Dyflin),something i do every day.

To set the record straight, I am ex merchant navy and have also worked offshore in the North Sea (PSV) until 2004.

My point was your sweeping statement

So i dont hope anyone on a ship/fishing boat gets into trouble along the Irish coast in the future if this is the case.

is not accurate. I'm not supporting this move, but some facts needed to be put forward to counter this sort of generalisation. It also needs to be remembered that the RNLI are not scaling back their operations (24/7) in this area so there is still a crucial element of SAR coverage.

Norwayviking

Dyflin wrote: »

To set the record straight, I am ex merchant navy and have also worked offshore in the North Sea (PSV) until 2004.

My point was your sweeping statement is not accurate. I'm not supporting this move, but some facts needed to be put forward to counter this sort of generalisation.

Whatever you say mate.
We just have to see what happens in the future.It could go both ways,but usually the wrong way.
So what company boats did you work on?

Tabnabs

Way off topic, but the old Sterling Pegasus, then owned by Seacor. Before that I was deepsea with OSG amongst others.

Mvh, Dyflin

Norwayviking

Here is some great shots while working in Killybegs last year.
We where called up by the Irish coastguard asking for permission to put a rescuesvimmer on our deck and take him back up again.Offcourse you dont say no to such an offer.
Great lads from the Coastguard.

Norwayviking

Norwayviking wrote: »

Here is some great shots while working in Killybegs last year.
We where called up by the Irish coastguard asking for permission to put a rescuesvimmer on our deck and take him back up again.Offcourse you dont say no to such an offer.
Great lads from the Coastguard.

Here is some more

Norwayviking

Dyflin wrote: »

Way off topic, but the old Sterling Pegasus, then owned by Seacor. Before that I was deepsea with OSG amongst others.

Mvh, Dyflin

Well off topic.You have your opinion and i have mine,thats why people are different.And no offence in any way.
Anyway worked psv from 1992 untill 2004 gulf offshore Norge
2004 untill now Deep sea Supply.Anchorhandling.
And from May 2010 i am going on a new build Siem Aquamarine,Anchorhandling, Siem Offshore.New company.
And i see you have been talking to norwegians before lol

Tabnabs

Funnily enough, you may well have seen my old ship in Killybegs, she is now the Boa Fortune She was carrying pipes for the Solitaire (or was that two years ago )

PS. No offence taken at all, boards.ie is the place for robust conversations!

God tur!

Norwayviking

Dyflin wrote: »

Funnily enough, you may well have seen my old ship in Killybegs, she is now the Boa Fortune She was carrying pipes for the Solitaire (or was that two years ago )

PS. No offence taken at all, boards.ie is the place for robust conversations!

God tur!

Takk.I know the Boa Fortune for sure.Shes one of the regulars in Aberdeen.Havent seen her in a while now though.

Lykke til videre

PS would you still be interested in working on offshoreboats?The offshore companies are struggling to get more experienced crews onboards their ships.

iceage

According to the Irish Daily Moaner..can anyone confirm this. Great news if its true.

Ignore my last..Steyr bet me to it.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055870298