Sea rescue service: 32 call-outs over the weekend in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea

It was a busy September weekend for the crews of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS): by Sunday evening, the DGzRS had recorded 32 operations. Particularly notable were a rescue off Heligoland, a live-action exercise during a large-scale drill in Eckernförde Bay, and the rescue of an injured sailor off Schilksee. The full Rescue operations by the sea rescue service It also documents rescue operations involving a cruise ship, a stranded Zeesen boat and an exhausted kitesurfer.

Hypothermic sailor rescued off Heligoland

At midday on Friday, 18 September, the sea rescue service was called out to assist a severely hypothermic woman on a sailing yacht north-east of Heligoland. The boat, just under twelve metres long, had six people on board. According to the DGzRS, three crew members were suffering from severe seasickness, whilst a woman aged around 35 was also showing signs of dehydration.

With a westerly wind of around six Beaufort and waves about three metres high, the sea rescue cruiser, its tender, the rescue helicopter and the emergency tug worked together. The rescue helicopter first dropped off the emergency doctor and paramedic onto the sea rescue vessel ‘Hermann Marwede’. The team then made their way to the yacht aboard the rescue launch “Verena”. The emergency tug “Nordic” provided shelter from the wind, enabling the patient to be transferred. The Details of the operation off Heligoland illustrate just how challenging a medical handover can be in rough seas.

Mast failure halts SAREx exercise

On Friday afternoon, nine sea rescue cruisers and boats took part in the SAREx search and rescue exercise in Eckernförde Bay. At around 4.10 pm, the exercise turned into a real-life emergency: a sailing yacht reported via marine radio that its mast had broken at the mouth of Eckernförde Bay.

The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre alerted the remaining rescue boats involved, the “Eckernförde” and “Konrad-Otto”, from the Kühlungsborn station. Two rescue workers boarded the yacht, retrieved the mast and rigging from the water and secured the parts on board. The rescuers then brought the boat, with its uninjured two-person crew, safely to Damp.

The Large-scale SAREx exercise in Eckernförde In doing so, he demonstrated under real-world conditions what is crucial in such situations: stabilising the stricken vessel, eliminating the risks posed by loose parts, and guiding the boat safely into harbour in a controlled manner.

Injured sailor picked up off Schilksee

On Saturday 19 September, the skipper of a sailing yacht approximately twelve metres long reported a medical emergency via VHF channel 16. About 1.8 nautical miles off Wendtorf on the Outer Kiel Fjord, a female crew member aged around 40 had apparently broken her arm whilst the yacht was manoeuvring.

The Schilksee station’s sea rescue boat, the “Jürgen Horst”, set out. A rescue worker administered first aid on board the yacht. As the injured woman was unable to transfer to the rescue boat unaided, the crew transported her to Laboe using a basket stretcher. There, they handed her over to the ambulance service.

It is not only in the event of serious accidents that the crew’s preparedness is crucial in the opening minutes. The BOOTE article on … also highlights which procedures are important in the event of a medical emergency on board. The correct first-aid measures to take in the event of a cardiac arrest on the water.

Help for a kitesurfer, a cruise passenger and a Zeesenboat

Further operations this weekend demonstrate the breadth of the DGzRS’s work. In the Fehmarn Belt, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre coordinated the evacuation by helicopter of a seriously ill passenger from the cruise ship “Artania”. Off Born am Darß, volunteers from the Prerow/Wieck station worked through the darkness and waves of up to 1.5 metres to free a Zeesen boat that had become stuck.

Off Gelting, the crew of the rescue boat ‘Ursula Dettmann’ rescued an exhausted kitesurfer who had drifted between Wackerballig and Gelting. On Borkum, two crew members looked after an elderly woman who had fallen in the harbour until the ambulance arrived.

For motorboat crews, the most important lesson remains: emergency communication options, the boat’s position, first-aid equipment and the allocation of roles on board should be clearly established before setting off. Particularly in challenging waters, an incident can quickly escalate, as was the case in a previous Maritime emergency following a motorboat accident in Seegatt has shown.

Book recommendation

Medicine at Sea explains first aid, diagnosis and treatment in the conditions encountered on board. Among other things, the handbook covers injuries, loss of consciousness, bleeding, drowning and the preparation of the on-board first-aid kit. For skippers and crew, the practical relevance is particularly important: the book shows how to recognise medical emergencies and provide structured care until professional help arrives.

How do you prepare your crew for medical emergencies or technical incidents: by assigning fixed roles on board, providing regular first-aid training, or establishing clear emergency procedures? Please share your experiences in the comments.