An emergency close to the limit between two SAR regions does not require the diportista to become an expert in international law. It requires reliable data, immediate alarm and clear confirmation of who is coordinating. The line on the card organizes research and rescue services; it is not a reason to interrupt communication or postpone assistance reasonably possible.
This checklist follows the chain from sighting to closing. It is based on the SAR Convention, on the duty of assistance provided by the international framework and on cooperation between centres. It does not replace the instructions of the maritime authority and does not authorize maneuvers incompatible with security, stability or capacity of the unit.
1. Establish your unit before communicating
Assigned conduct, observation and radio. Reduce distractions, control traffic, sea, visibility and people on board. If you're alone, choose a government condition that allows you to transmit without losing control. A second accident makes the rescue worse.
Don't get close automatically. First it determines whether there are people in water, fire, collision risk or government loss. The priority is to make a precise signal and remain available.
2. Record location and now in the same instant
Note complete coordinates, time and reference used. Make sure that latitude and longitude are not reversed and repeat the data to another person when possible. Add course and speed of your unit.
If the emergency position is estimated, declare it. Indicate detection, distance and observation method. Do not turn an approximate point into an apparently exact coordinate.
3. Send the alarm without waiting to know the SAR region
Use the available emergency means and the maritime authority. Communicate identification, location, nature of danger, persons involved and immediate assistance necessary. The first informed center may notify the territorially responsible one.
Do not delay while looking for an updated map. The Convention organizes cooperation precisely because the alarm can arrive at the non territorially competent center.
4. Build the complete minimum message
| Field | Date to be transmitted | Error to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Name, name and contact | Anonymous message not recallable |
| Location | Coordinates, time and reliability | Point without time |
| Event | Facts observed and danger | Hypotheses presented as certainty |
| Persons | Known or estimated number and conditions | Count not verified |
| Unit | Description, route and float | Relevant details before risk |
| Capacity | What you can do and what limits | Non-sustainable project |
5. Ask for a receipt confirmation
A message transmitted is not necessarily received. Get confirmation of the decisive elements and correct coordinates or number of people immediately. Note now, identifier of the interlocutor and channel for subsequent contacts.
If there is no answer, repeat with the procedures provided and test the alternative means available. A nearby ship can relaunch, but must distinguish the original message from its observations.
6. Identify who assumed coordination
Receiving a call from a center does not always mean that the center formally assumed the operation. Ask which RCC or RSC coordinates, who is the referent and what frequency or contact should be maintained.
In the register write the essential formula: center, time, task and duration. If you receive information from another interlocutor, report that there is already a coordinator and ask for clarification before changing activities, except for an immediate danger.
7. Prepare the change of guard on the bridge
Before the passage summarizes position, coordinator center, channel, last message, task, neighboring units and next expiry. The new manager repeats critical elements and checks radio, paper and logs. A generic delivery as “follow traffic” is not enough during a rescue.
If the change coincides with a passage between RCC, return it or keep both responsible until the delivery is confirmed. Two simultaneous transitions multiply the risk of losing an order or an update.
8. Do not treat the SAR region as sovereignty
The region serves to restart the search and rescue service; its delimitation does not decide political boundaries or maritime jurisdiction. The commander should not deduct from that line who owns the sea or which port will be chosen.
This distinction avoids unnecessary discussions on the radio. Communicates the operational fact and leaves the centers interstate coordination. Your responsibility remains the ship and the assistance you can provide safely.
9. Declare your boat's capacity and limits
Indicates estimated time, sustainable speed, available people, means of recovery, free edge, space and health care. Report fuel, faults or weather conditions that reduce capacity. Do not use vague formulas as “I can help”.
The center can assign observation, radio relay, approach or recovery. Accept only after understanding the task. If conditions change, update without waiting for the limit to be exceeded.
10. Keep separate comments and related information
In the log it uses simple categories: seen directly, received from the unit in danger, communicated by other ship, estimated by the crew. This allows the coordinator to correctly weigh the data.
Do not repeat as a certain number felt bad or a position deprived of now. Ask confirmation when possible and retain the previous version, because it can explain a drift or error.
11. Manage ambigue language and words
Use short sentences, scanned numbers and standard maritime terminology. Ask for the repetition of coordinates, people and instructions. If a word can indicate both order and order, an explicit confirmation is required instead of deducing the meaning from the tone.
Avoid local abbreviations and improvised translations. When a third ship interprets, note who translated and confirm the content in the center. The urgency does not make a message reliable not included.
12. Update the picture at useful intervals
Transmit significant changes: people in water, floating worsening, contact loss, weather change, arrival of means or impossibility to perform the task. Avoid continuous messages without content, occupying the channel.
Each update starts from identity, time and location. If the center establishes a cadence, respect it; if the danger accelerates, it immediately communicates.
13. Prepare a complete passage between centres
When coordination changes, it summarizes the last known point, people, conditions, units present, tasks and communications still open. Ask for confirmation that the new center has received and accepted the picture.
Do not close the old contact until the passage is explicit, except for different instructions. Two temporary channels may be necessary, but a person of the crew must check who gives current orders.
14. Manage incompatible orders without improvisation
If two interlocutors assign incompatible tasks, they immediately communicate the conflict to both and indicate the center already registered as coordinator. Do not choose according to the perceived language or proximity. Ask for an explicit decision.
In the presence of an immediate danger, the commander shall take the necessary measures for safety and report its motivation and outcome. The technical responsibility of the ship is not transferred by radio.
15. Use other ships as traced resources
Note the name, location, declared capacity and task of each unit you interact with. Avoid informal agreements that the center does not know. A change of course or parallel research can create collisions and uncovered areas.
If you do as a relay, repeat the message without changing its meaning, indicating sender and now. Ask for confirmation of receipt and notify any uncertain parties.
16. Integrates medical urgency in coordination
If a person requires health care, he communicates observable symptoms, consciousness, breathing, bleeding, estimated age and already performed interventions. Do not formulate diagnosis and do not administer treatments out of competence. Ask for the connection with your medical support.
Record the information received and who performs it. A medical emergency may change half, priority or destination, but it remains inserted in the same SAR framework: the commander updates the coordinator center and does not open a parallel chain not known.
17. Check fatigue, fuel and stability while waiting
A seemingly passive task can last hours. Upgrade autonomy, shifts, temperature, sea and recovery possibilities. A boat ready at first may not be longer after long wait or with additional people on board.
Fix thresholds to ask for replacement or leave the area. Communicate them before they become an emergency. The center needs realistic times to reorganize resources.
18. Do not anticipate the decision on the place of safety
The nearest port is not automatically the conclusion of the operation. The competent authorities assess a place where security is no longer threatened and fundamental needs can be met.
The commander provides data on health, capacity of the ship, autonomy and conditions. It does not promise destinations and does not spread hypotheses as official decisions.
19. Protect operational data while rescue is in progress
Coordinates, images and movements published in real time can confuse the picture, attract traffic or expose vulnerable people. Share with the center what is necessary and limits external diffusion during the operation.
It keeps intact copies for the report: original photographs, logs, allowed recordings and messages. Do not alter hours or metadata after the event.
20. Close only on instruction or with verified outcome
Before leaving the device, confirm that the task is completed, transferred or cancelled. Register who frees the ship, to which time and what situation remains. If you lose contact, do not interpret silence as closing.
The recovered persons must arrive at a safety condition according to the coordination. After disembarkation or delivery, recordings, fault reports, crew assistance and equipment recovery remain.
21. Execute the review without turning it into a political dispute
Compare what happened with the checklist: first alarm, confirmation, coordinator center, steps, tasks, limits and closing. Locate technical delays and missing information. The useful question is which barrier prevents the error from being repeated.
A SAR region organizes operational responsibilities, but security arises from continuity. The checklist works when no passage leaves the emergency without an informed center, a ship responsible for its conduct and an updated picture.