Year of living dangerously: Marine Rescue's record number of callouts

A multi-agency search for a 19-year-old swimmer who went missing in the surf on Boxing Day 2023 was eventually called off after two days without a trace.

In the 12 months since, NSW Marine Rescue safely returned more than 10,500 people to shore, with most volunteer units seeing record demand.

Batemans Bay unit conducted 125 search and rescue missions, while Eden volunteers responded to 42 and Bermagui 32.

The 42 search and rescue missions at Eden was a new calendar year record, surpassing the 32 missions of 2022.

Across NSW, crews performed a total of 4735 search and rescue missions, including 1364 emergency responses, safely returning 10,539 people to shore.

Demand on the service in 2024 was just below the record 4786 search and rescue missions conducted in 2023.

Marine Rescue NSW radio operators had a busy 2024 managing 242,586 radio calls.

Marine Rescue NSW Monaro Inspector Glenn Sullivan ESM spoke to ACM this week and recalled some of the more significant missions his volunteer crews were tasked to during the year.

"Well unfortunately last year commenced with a missing male off the Binjie and Congo area," he said.

"That was a multi-agency search, including the Marine Command, PolAir helicopters and three Marine Rescue units involving all their assets.

"So everything from our RWC - our rescue watercraft - up to the largest vessels that we've got coming from both Batemans Bay and Narooma, and the unit out of Tuross as well who supplied the skis and their category two vessel as well.

"That sort of set the pace of what we were going to be up for the rest of the year."

Mr Sullivan also recalled a particularly trying day for the Merimbula unit, with three separate search and rescue missions in one day.

"And yes the poor old Merimbula unit who were enjoying the sunshine one morning and then had three rescues within three hours.

"They got called out for their first one and next thing you know they had another one," Mr Sullivan said.

"And then that became a multi-unit exercise because another vessel that was off Tathra-Kianinny actually needed to go back to Bermagui, so I had to activate the Bermagui unit to tow it back to Bermagui Harbour.

"It ended up being a very long day for volunteers."

Busy days continued right through the calendar year, with the annual Sydney to Hobart another test of Marine Rescue volunteers' training and resolve.

"The Sydney Hobart yacht race this year involved a lot of communications with our radio bases," Mr Sullivan said.

"Although our vessels weren't activated to go to assist, the radio operations bases up and down the coast were key to assisting police and giving them a heads-up of what was actually going on - including the missing person when he went overboard off Eden.

"They self-rescued, which was an absolutely fantastic result, but the police were made aware of that, I was obviously made aware of it, so it was somewhat of a sleepless night that night for me."

Mr Sullivan said Marine Rescue regularly emphasised the need for boat skippers and water users to consider their safety as paramount.

But given the service was getting busier each year, one wondered if the message was getting through.

"From my observations, I've noticed down on the coast there's been a shift in who's actually going out boating," he said.

"There are more families going out...and more people are moving down here from Sydney, and their experience does not necessarily match what they've been used to.

"Therefore, when they go out in these conditions, they can get challenged.

"The other thing is the vessels are becoming better and more reliable, and therefore, people are going further and further offshore in small boats to chase bigger fish - to play with the big boys, so to speak.

"And that is when things go wrong."

Among Marine Rescue's key safety messages was that boaters should log on and off with the service every time they head out.

While doing so ensures someone knows where you were at all times should the need arise, Mr Sullivan said there remained some reluctance.

"We've just finished doing some work with Maritime Authority. I'm going to the boat ramps and meeting people as to why they don't log on.

"A lot of them said 'I don't want you to know where my fishing spots are - I don't want that broadcast'," Mr Sullivan said.

"The other thing is just that they don't know how to use the radio equipment on board to call in."

For that reason, Marine Rescue NSW has an award-winning app through which boaters can log on and off.

Mr Sullivan said the service's IT department had also developed another new function, a distressed vessel locator, that can pinpoint a skipper's location through GPS coordinates even if their vessel's electronics and radio were down.

"Make sure all your safety equipment, whether it be your flares, your EPIRP, is all in good working order.

"Tell somebody where you're going - and we can save that by logging on and logging off with Marine Rescue via the app or VHF radio.

"But also, before you head out, have a look at how to operate your flares, know how to use your safety gear.

"The times when you're going to be using it is going to be at the peak times of stress and also could be at night time, so by knowing how to use it in the day and having an understanding of what you would do is really important because it could actually prevent a catastrophic issue later on in the evening.

"One of the key things I can't stress enough is that a lifejacket can only save you if you're wearing it.

"The number of times that we found people who have gone missing and they have no lifejackets.

"They're quite readily available and they're probably one of the cheapest things [for boaters] - they're less than a tank of fuel for your boat - and yet people have an aversion to wearing them."

Another key takeaway from Mr Sullivan was that Marine Rescue was not a compliance authority.

"We are purely 100 per cent rescue and our commitment is for the safety of people in the water and the saving of lives on the water.

"We are not compliance and I'd encourage everybody to keep that in mind when they're talking to us - you're not gonna get in trouble from us.

"We are here purely to help people when they're having their worst day."