Two South Coast Marine Rescue members awarded the NSW Maritime Medal

Minister for Transport Jo Haylen presented the medal to Merimbula Unit commander William (Bill) Blakeman and Jervis Bay Unit commander Kevin Hill, congratulating them both on their continued dedication to their communities.

Merimbula's Bill Blakeman received the NSW Maritime Medal for community, for his outstanding contribution as a training officer, spending countless hours training and developing crew to conduct rescues and respond to incidents.

Mr Blakeman has volunteered for Marine Rescue since November 2008 and is a life member of the Merimbula Unit.

Mr Blakeman said he enjoyed training new members and took great joy out of seeing their progress and development.

"I work with a wonderful group of people at the Merimbula Unit and I am grateful to receive this recognition," he said.

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Mr Blakeman said after a lifetime in the marine industry, which began as a deck boy on a Port Line vessel at the age of 16, volunteering with Marine Rescue NSW gave him the opportunity to give something back to the community.

"My focus today is about saving lives on the water," Mr Blakeman said.

Transport for NSW deputy secretary Safety, Environment and Regulation Sally Webb congratulated Mr Blakeman for his "outstanding contribution to the community".

"William is being awarded for spending countless hours training crew at the helm of Marine Rescue vessels. He has been instrumental in ensuring his crews operate cohesively and safely," Ms Webb said.

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Ms Webb said Mr Blakeman was an indispensable member of Marine Rescue Merimbula.

"He has acted as training officer and Unit commander of the Merimbula unit, with many rescues directly attributed to his training and leadership," she said.

The Community Medal is awarded every two years to a person or group demonstrating outstanding and sustained effort in the boating and maritime community of NSW.

Ms Webb said she wanted to thank Kevin for his professionalism, his dedication and for sharing his extensive maritime safety expertise.

"His invaluable contribution to the maritime community and his selflessness in training others ensures that the volunteers he works with can keep themselves and the boating community safe," she said.

Kevin Hill of Marine Rescue Jervis Bay received the NSW Maritime Medal for safety.

During his 10 years at Marine Rescue, Mr Hill has been a dedicated rescue vessel skipper and worked tirelessly to train, educate and encourage boaters to be safe on the waters of Jervis Bay.

Mr Hill said he had attended the event knowing he was in the running for the medal but "never thought I would be awarded it".

"I was surprised to receive the medal and am humbled by it," he said.

Since joining Marine Rescue in December 2013, Mr Hill there were two incidents in early 2023 which stood out in his mind.

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"In February we saved a father and his daughter who got into trouble while stand-up paddle boarding inside Jervis Bay off Iluka Beach near Green Patch," he said.

"We rescued them in record time but it was the next day when I was manning the raffle stand at a shopping centre that the family walked in and the mother was overcome with emotion."

Mr Hill said it was seeing the gratitude on the faces of that family that was "amazing".

"Within a week though, we went from the best possible outcome to the worst when in an almost identical situation and location with a different family, a young mother didn't survive," Mr Hill said.

Marine Rescue NSW is a volunteer based not-for-profit professional organisation dedicated to keeping boaters safe on the water and supporting local communities.

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