RS (Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue) delegation visits Hellenic’s Rescue Team branches in Volos, Corfu and Irakleio

An RS (Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue - Redningsselskapet) delegation visited between the 23rd and the 30th of September the HRT branches in Volos, Corfu and Irakleio, where three of the four rescue boats, donated by RS and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been operating since summer 2017. Ms Vivi Schumann, head of RS international projects and Mr. Håvard Vedvik, experienced RS crew member and first aid instructor were in this delegation, accompanied by HRT’s Communications Officer, Ms Meni Kourkouta.

The visit was initiated by the HRT’s headquarters, in Thessaloniki, and continued in HRT’s braches in Volos, Corfu and Irakleio, where the donated “Aegean”, “Nansen” and “Europe” rescue boats are operating. In these three cities, the RS delegation met with the local volunteers, who presented their activities especially those regarding marine rescue during the last year and, in particular, the important impact in the local society of their rescue work at sea, which was extremely enhanced by the new rescue boats.

They also had the opportunity to visit and go onboard the HRT rescue boats and discuss about the ways of cooperation with local port authorities, their challenges and their accomplishments.

Håvard Vedvik also provided a First Aid training session to volunteers from HRT Corfu and Irakleio, teaching them how to treat hypothermia, the most common incident to occur at sea.

RS has so far offered six rescue boats to the Hellenic Rescue Team. The first two were “Norway I” and “Norway II” and in cooperation with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs a program of € 1 million was implemented in 2016-2017, through which HRT managed to acquire four other rescue boats: “Odin”, “Nansen”, “Aegean” and “Europe”.  Hellenic Rescue Team has now the capacity to deploy 18 rescue boats, covering a large part of the rescue operational necessities of the Greek seas.

The photo is from the visit in HRT Corfu