Seven maritime search and rescue (SAR) professionals took part - five from Morocco, one from Senegal and one from Nigeria. They were all GMDSS trainers in Africa and returned to their respective regions to pass on the knowledge and training to their teams and organisations.
The course, which was delivered by John Dodd, director of safety services, Inmarsat Maritime. It covered the latest developments in the new generation of GMDSS and SAR co-ordination and operations. Training focused on applying technology to reduce the response times of the maritime rescue co-ordination centres, as well as sharing best practice in maximising efficiency in SAR operations by using vessels in the immediate vicinity.
Inmarsat is an associate member of the IMRF and sponsored the event as a contribution to the IMRF's global SAR development project in Africa, which will help improve SAR capability across 29 African countries, with a focus on building the capability of rescue co-ordination centres, rescue sub-centres and SAR mission co-ordinators.
Theresa Crossley, IMRF CEO, said: "This is the latest stage of our work in Africa to improve SAR knowledge and expertise, working with regional maritime rescue coordination centres to promulgate the latest information and expertise in the most efficient way possible – all with the objective of saving more lives at sea and in inland waters.
"We thank Inmarsat for their support and for sharing their expertise and developing this valuable training. The feedback from the delegates has been very positive and encouraging," she said.
Dodd added "The IMO is implementing a complete overhaul and modernisation of GMDSS, and it is vital that all stakeholders are fully briefed on the system on which seafarers rely in the last resort. This year, Inmarsat has also been rolling out SafetyNET II - a web-based version of the SafetyNET messaging platform that supports GMDSS and SAR, while an IMO sub committee agreed that both FleetBroadband and Fleet One should be considered for formal GMDSS approval."