By Clay Evans, maritime historian and retired Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat coxswain

When considering the monumental events and technological milestones that have transpired over the last 100 years, it may be a fool’s errand to attempt to predict the future. This is particularly true for the IMRF, given the organisation’s significant achievements in the promotion of saving lives at sea since 1924. So, what might the future hold?

From a visionary perspective, perhaps the only rational road is to look at some of the contemporary challenges that the IMRF and its member organisations are facing, many of which are global in scope, and like the eternal optimists that all humanitarians are, recognise these challenges and search for viable solutions to both alleviate and possibly overcome these joint obstacles.

At a recent conference in London, Jacob Tas, Chair of the IMRF and CEO of the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (KNRM), shared his thoughts on the evolving challenges the maritime search and rescue (SAR) community faces, from ageing equipment to the rise of unmanned vessels and the difficulty of recruiting volunteers. He praised the IMRF’s global network of member organisations for overcoming these obstacles. 

"The IMRF is the vehicle that brings together SAR organisations from around the world, allowing them to share knowledge, training, and best practices," he added. 

The vehicle that the IMRF’s Chair refers to is the maintenance of a constant line of communications between our constituent member organisations and the greater maritime SAR community. It is only through effective communications, at all levels, that some of the following future challenges can be faced in a constructive, unified fashion.

Evolving Technologies

“While in other spheres scientists and inventors work too often in secret so as to keep the profit of their science and inventions to themselves or to a very limited number of interested persons, you are exactly the opposite, because you are eager to communicate with each other, without any restriction, the last progress which has been realised to your knowledge in the ways and means of saving lives and to give the benefit of your experience to everyone.”[i]

These are the prophetic words of Monsieur Segers, the Belgian Minister of Communications during his welcoming speech at the 6^th International Lifeboat Conference, held in Ostend in 1951. There is no doubt that the free flow of information on evolving lifesaving technologies remains a core mission of the IMRF, but what changes might the future hold in this regard?

Delegates of several nations attending the 6^th International Lifeboat Conference held in Ostend, Belgium in 1951. Credit: RNLI Archives

A huge push towards greater automation has been felt in both the shipping and the maritime SAR worlds. When it comes to commercial shipping, significant advancements in the development of unmanned, or minimally manned, commercial ships have resulted in the IMO fostering the development of the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) Code. There is no doubt that interest in this file will continue to grow and the challenge that has been identified by the IMRF, is the ability for such vessels to respond to other units in difficulty during a SAR scenario.

Similarly, the increased use of automated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for both “search” and “rescue” continues to rapidly evolve, in line with the expanding use of these devices globally, unfortunately not always for humanitarian purposes.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology also connects with the automated realm and, from a positive perspective, offers great potential for assisting with complex SAR incidents such as extended searches involving multiple SAR units and large search areas over time, as well as Mass Rescue Operation (MRO) scenarios.

In terms of marine and aeronautical rescue asset technologies, manned vehicles will doubtless remain the primary SAR tools for decades to come, and the many members of the IMRF, both on the response organisation side as well as the associate commercial application side, will continue research and development of more efficient and effective means of saving lives.

As the IMRF Chair mentioned, many maritime rescue organizations have issues with their assets “ageing out” and, as they look to the future these increasing cost pressures mean that they may have to deliver SAR services in a more efficient and economical manner. This could include the increased use of non-fossil fuel powered rescue craft, or hybrid versions thereof, as well as even greater asset speeds and operational ranges in order to lesson the number of units – and therefore crews – that may be required to cover a certain geographic area.

Global Challenges:     

“I am convinced that all of us who have had the opportunity of attending previous conferences remember with gratitude the net gains those conferences produced, not only as regards technical and material knowledge, but also spiritually by the promotion of the unity of nations in a common endeavour. It is those sentiments of international cooperation – of the brotherhood of man – which will, we hope, be of permanent and priceless value in coming, and possibly turbulent years, whatever the whims of Fate may have for humanity.”[ii]

These words were spoken in 1936 during the opening ceremony of the 4^th ILC, held in Gothenburg, Sweden by the President of the Swedish Sea Rescue Institution and Conference Chair, Commander William Gibson, when the winds of another looming global conflict were in the air.

All of the delegates attending the 4^th ILC held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1936. Commander Gibson is #32, close to the centre of the photo. Credit: RNLI Archives

Unfortunately, the IMRF and its many member organisations, whether NGOs or state-run, are not immune from most of today’s global challenges, some of which are the same challenges that the world was facing in 1936.

In a political context, the emergence and rapid spread of mass communication technologies – the same technologies that have been of great assistance in maritime SAR - have served to undermine conventional sources of information, primarily due to the extensive spread of disinformation, which has challenged established norms and resulted in an increasingly polarized world on many fronts. Weeding out disinformation, particularly during extended large-scale SAR events, will be a continuing challenge for maritime SAR responders, and in particular SAR Mission Coordinators, for the foreseeable future.

Mass migration by sea, on an almost unprecedented scale, has been prolific during the first decades of the 21^st Century, with the resultant loss of thousands of innocent lives to wind, weather, unseaworthy watercraft and unsavoury human smugglers. It is anticipated that this migration is not likely to abate in the foreseeable future, given increasing global inequities, the potential for national and international financial global instability, as well as the looming prospect of regional armed conflict in several parts of the globe, where massive refugee crises may result, and which may require an evacuation by sea. From a perspective of continuous improvement, the IMRF is presently reviewing its 30-chapter MRO Guidance documents to keep pace with these evolving factors.

Another significant global challenge that we all face is that of climate change. A warming planet has had a profound affect on sea levels and, as such, on low-lying nation states and coastlines, harbours and estuaries around the world. Climate change has also resulted in a heating of the world’s oceans, which, as we have seen recently with several severe cyclonic weather events around the globe, fuels these catastrophic events. Not only is there the potential for increased demand on maritime rescue services in coastal areas from severe flooding and storm damage, but there is also the increased risk to the rescue facilities and rescuers themselves. In many locations around the world maritime rescue organisations are having to consider whether they need to permanently relocate SAR resources or re-construct facilities to withstand these events. Additionally, a new category of MROs, known as “Catastrophic Event MRO” is now being used and prepared for.

By discussing and preparing for these events in advance, the IMRF and its members can be pro-active rather than reactive and can face these challenges in a unified manner.

The Coast Guard stresses safety and shelter for Hurricane Idalia’s potential impact to Florida in October 2023. Credit: USCG/NOAA.

Organizational Challenges

“The IMRF has been the vehicle used to deliver these projects because we are the neutral party, we can cut across borders and barriers, there is no commercial incentive and the reason we exist is to do just this, pulling together ideas, sharing knowledge and helping improve maritime SAR services worldwide. Finding ways to add value.”[iii]

These are the words of the IMRF’s past CEO, Bruce Reid, at the 3^rd World Maritime Rescue Congress (WMRC), held in 2015 in Bremerhaven, Germany, and they remain true in 2024.

Both the IMRF and many of its constituent members will face similar organizational challenges over the coming years. Funding is always an issue, particularly for charitable organisations, maintaining a steady flow of finances to cover operational costs, as well as provide for future capital expenses continues to become more challenging as public funding retracts and competition for the charitable dollar increases along with the number of organisations vying for those same dollars. For the IMRF to continue to do great work, ensuring that a more robust and sustainable revenue stream beyond just membership fees is in place is vital.

As identified by the IMRF’s present Chair, recruitment and retention of personnel, in particular volunteers, is another ongoing challenge. Societal values and demographics are changing, and this is resulting in a greater trend where individuals are having multiple careers over their working lifespan, which also results in high-mobility and the tendency to not establish consistent roots in a community over time. This factor is not conducive to maintaining a stable of trained personnel over a long period, let alone the extended time it takes to do the training and establish the adequate level of experience. Significant initiatives have been put in place to recruit volunteers at a younger age and this, combined with the standardisation of training and equipment, can lesson the effects of a more transient volunteer base as, aside from local knowledge, they can pick up where they left off as far as procedures and kit are concerned. Similarly, state-run maritime rescue organisations are also facing a recruitment and retention crisis as a certain demographic ages out, taking with them a vast resource of experience, with a resultant struggle to fill the void.

But what might be the future organisational challenges of the IMRF itself?

One of these challenges is the ability to continue to be relevant as an international organisation at a time when the very values of “internationalism” are being questioned by the advance of multiple “inward” looking geopolitical entities. The primary objective of the IMRF, which is at the core of what the federation represents, is that the pursuit of the means of saving lives at sea is a universal humanitarian endeavour that transcends all boundaries. The best way for the IMRF to remain relevant, and to resist the challenge of international isolationism, is to continue to pursue these common goals for the benefit of all humanity.

Continued relevancy as an organisation is also predicated on the ability to continue to refine and improve its product and brand as the recognised international entity that focuses on the promotion and development of maritime SAR capability and capacity around the globe. There is significant value in becoming a member of the IMRF either in its 100^th year of existence or beyond, particularly when it comes to sharing and receiving the latest information on all matters specific to maritime SAR, but the IMRF, like its member organisations, should also pursue a policy of “continuous improvement” in order to ensure that the value to members is maintained and even enhanced, as Bruce Reid alluded to in 2015.

Despite these challenges, there is no doubt that the IMRF’s future remains bright as it continues to pursue its primary missions of providing guidance, facilitating training and enabling SAR providers to share knowledge and expertise between members across the IMRF community. Its work spans some of the most important issues facing maritime SAR and is vital to raising and maintaining standards, as well as improving overall global SAR capability.

At the 1^st WMRC held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2007, Hamish MacDonald, who would become one of the first trustees of the newly minted IMRF, offered the following words;

“I can't compare our background to the size of backgrounds of some of the major organizations. But I think that over the years we have had more or as much involvement around the world as most. For me the future, I feel we must listen, and I feel we must hear, and I feel we must understand what we hear.”[iv]

Listening is at the core of what the IMRF represents, a vehicle to provide a platform to hear what other individuals, organisations and nations have to say when it comes to the common means to protect and save lives at sea. As long as we all keep listening, and therefore learning, these potential challenges of the future will be overcome.