ARMED FORCES OF MALTA: Maritime Search-and-Rescue services

1. MARITIME SAR SERVICES
MARITIME SQUADRON
MAJ ETIENNE SCICLUNA
OC INSHORE COMMAND

2. AGENDA
• AUTHORITY
• MISSION
• ORGANISATION
• SEARCH & RESCUE UNIT

3. AUTHORITY
• SAR convention 2002
• AFM appointed SAR Authority
(Government notice 102 dtd 28 Jan 03)
• AFM – SAR Point of Contact for Maltese
Search and Rescue Region

4. MISSION
• To conduct SAR operations in the Malta
SAR Region (SRR) using AFM resources
and other resources that may be available,
in order to expeditiously render aid to
persons in distress and, where possible,
protect property and the environment.

5. SAR REGION
• More than quarter of
a million square
kilometers
•Almost 600NM in
length and 130NM in
width
•Stretches from 30NM
from the Tunisian
coast to Crete
•Within the SRR, RCC
Malta is legally
responsible for the co-
ordination of all SAR
actions

6. ORGANISATION
RCC MALTA
SAR MISSION
COORDINATOR
ON SCENE
COMMANDER
SEARCH &
RESCUE
UNIT
SEARCH &
RESCUE
UNIT
SEARCH &
RESCUE
UNIT
COLLECTS
INFORMATION
AND GENERATES
A SAR ACTION
PLAN (SAP)
COORDINATES
ACTIONS ON
SCENE AND
PROVIDES
FEEDBACK TO SMC
SAR
COORDINATOR

7. SAR PLANNING TOOLS
• Wide use is made of IT in
the planning of SAR
operations, both in the
forms of databases as
well as planning tools.
• The planning tool used,
SAR-OPS, is fully
IAMSAR compliant.

8. STATISTICS
MEDEVAC TOWING TCN CASES ALERTS
2011 52 14 100 428
2012 45 30 88 456
2013 13 26 223 725
2014 3 NIL 30 60

9. Operational Capabilities
Maritime

10. Offshore Command
 Modified Diciotti Class Offshore Patrol Vessel P61
 Protector Class Patrol Craft P51 and P52

11. Inshore
Command
 4 Medium Range Patrol
Boats P21, P22, P23, P24.
 Supervittoria Class 800 SAR
Launch Melita I.
 Defender Class IPB.
 3 Boomeranger FICs.
 Rapid Deployment Platoon

12. Gozo
Command
 Supervittoria Class 800 SAR
Launch Melita II.
 Defender Class IPB.
 Forward Deployed in Mgarr.
Gozo.

13. GEOGRAPHICAL PSTN

14. CONSCIOUS

15. UNCONSCIOUS

16. IPB

17. MRPB

18. REPORTING
• EMERGENCY – 112
• AFM OPERATIONS CENTRE - 22494202
• WHO IS CALLING & CONTACT NO
• EXACT LOCATION
• DESCRIPTION OF THE INCIDENT &
SYMPTOMS
• IDENTIFIABLE MARKS
• WEATHER IN AREA
• ANY OTHER INFORMATION