There were many reasons for the formation of a Swedish non-governmental, national sea rescue society at the start of the 20th century. The storms of 1903 were one, a lack of interest on the part of the Swedish government was another, while the formation of a local sea rescue station at Stafsinge, in Halland in 1906 was a third.
The person who probably contributed most during these early years was Albert Isakson, a marine construction engineer at Lloyds of London. Albert Isakson took part in the 1903 world conference on sea rescue in Germany, where two countries were highlighted for particularly poor provision of rescue service for shipwrecked mariners: Greece and Sweden! Isakson brought the message home to Sweden and was the driving force at a meeting in Stockholm on June 1st 1907. As a result of the discussions of the representatives for the Swedish shipping industry, the Swedish Sea Rescue Society was formed.
One hundred years of sea rescue
The Swedish Sea Rescue Society plays a crucial role in sea rescue around the Swedish coast. The Society came from a deep social commitment from the shipping industry and the coastal population. The celebration of our centennial anniversary in 2007 was an exciting year for the Society, and gave the opportunity to look into the past but more importantly into the future.
The Swedish Sea Rescue Society stands solidly on three pillars
Swedish Sea Rescue Society´s function has always been that of saving lives at sea. This task is firmly supported on three pillars; an operative pillar, a preventative pillar and a firm commitment to research and development. The Society is focused on continuously meeting the demands and challenges of the future from mariners, authorities and societies. Swedish Sea Rescue Society´s preparations for the future requires an awareness of how maritime life has changed, so that its organization and fleet can be suitably adapted. The infancy of the Society at the beginning of the 20th century was characterized by the needs of rescue crews, along with crews and passengers from vessels in distress at sea. Later, in the 1950s and 60s marine recreation became popular, and this posed new demands to which the Society still devotes a great deal of energy. More recently, new marine leisure activities, often without a vessel, have been developed, such as long-distance sea skating in the winter. This is a new challenge for Swedish Sea Rescue Society in that they must be able to reach locations that cannot be reached using normal rescue vessels. This has led to building a small fleet of hovercraft. Future tasks will primarily be to reduce sea rescues, by use of education about increasing safety at sea and provision of sea rescue.
New faster rescue vessels
Swedish Sea Rescue Society has 160 vessels ready for use around the Swedish coast. Speed is of the essence when saving lives, and the organization has therefore invested heavily in its rescue fleet in recent years by building new, modern vessels that achieve high speeds even in heavy seas.
The large rescue vessels in the 20-metre Rausing class can cope with extreme conditions, and are equipped with the latest equipment, including equipment for searching in the dark using ultra-violet light.
The 12-metre Victoria class was developed by the Swedish Sea Rescue Society’s own engineers after extended research and has achieved worldwide recognition.
Served by Volunteers
Swedish Sea Rescue Society is responsible for 70 per cent of all sea rescues in Sweden and receives no government funding. The Society is financed by membership fees, donations and voluntary work. Despite this, or possible, as a result of this, the Society has doubled the number of sea rescue stations in recent years, tripled the number of rescue personnel available and built 70 modern rescue vessels. This expansion has enabled Swedish Sea Rescue Society in meeting its goal of departing within 15 minutes or less from the time an alarm is received. Crews live close to stations and conduct training several times a month.
Thanks to 1 700 volunteer crew members, rescue services are always available 24 hours a day anywhere along the Swedish coast and on the major lakes. The volunteers work as carpenters, doctors, fishermen, salesmen, plumbers, teachers and many other occupations. The sea rescue volunteers are willing to go out in any weather, at any time even during normal work hours or in the middle of the night.
The large degree of voluntary work enables the Swedish Sea Rescue Society to manage with small administration, and much of the costs for normal activities are covered by membership fees. The Swedish Sea Rescue Society has more than 60 000 members.
Impressive 100th Anniversary Celebrations
On the Swedish Sea Rescue Society’s 100th anniversary, June 1st 2007, the 20th World Maritime Rescue Congress opened in Göteborg. The 90 members of the International Maritime Rescue Federation meet every four years to discuss sea rescue and safety at sea and to present long-term action plans. The Congress in 2007 was held at Eriksberg. Some of the national and international participants brought along their rescue vessels. The fleet of Swedish Sea Rescue Society were well-represented, not only by new rescue vessels, but also by a cavalcade of older vessels which has previously served well with the Society.