DGzRS report: "Die Seenotretter" - 10 episodes full of adrenalin

Mayday! Fire on the ship, man overboard, heart attack at sea or sailor aground: the sea rescuers help in all weathers. Ready for action around the clock, they provide help and save lives at any time on the North and Baltic Seas. The dangerous missions of the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) were documented on camera for months. The result is a ten-part documentary series, each with 30-minute episodes featuring spectacular footage from the high seas.

More about the DGzRS:

• Review of the year: Sea rescuers help almost 3,000 people in 2024
• Sea rescue: The DGzRS's new 8.4-metre class shows what it can do
• Report: Sea rescue boats for the DGzRS and their missions
• Report: Sea rescuers in Norway - Deployment in the Arctic Ocean

Full range of sea rescue operations

The episodes about the voluntary, independent and donation-funded work of the sea rescuers document the wide range of missions: Fires on ships, people overboard, collisions, medical emergencies at sea, sailors unable to manoeuvre in a storm or the search for the shipwrecked crew of the freighter "Verity" - no two missions are the same and the reasons for calling on the sea rescuers are many and varied, as the series shows very well.

Elaborate film production with the DGzRS

For 16 months, the Bremen-based production company Kinescope Film repeatedly filmed at the DGzRS stations Norderney, Cuxhaven, Deutsche Bucht/Helgoland, Travemünde and Warnemünde, using video journalists, permanently installed cameras and bodycams. The multi-perspective shots make it possible to be up close and personal and to get to know experienced sea rescuers as well as new crew members. The crews report on their work in detail in interviews.

The programme series "Die Seenotretter" is a joint production of NDR and Radio Bremen, produced by Kinescope Film, funded by nordmedia - Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen mbH.

Here you can see "the sea rescuers"

All episodes about the work of the DGzRS are now available at any time in the ARD media library on the programme. The television broadcast begins this Friday evening, 14 February, at prime time.

All broadcast dates

The ten episodes can be seen on NDR and Radio Bremen television at the following times:

• Friday, 14 February, 9.15 pm - Episode 1
• Friday, 21 February, 9.15 pm - Episode 2
• Wednesday, 26 February, 11.15 pm - Episode 3
• Wednesday, 26 February, 11.45 pm - Episode 2 (Wh.)
• Friday, 28 February, 9.15 pm - Episode 4
• Wednesday, 5 March, 11.15 pm - Episode 5
• Wednesday, 5 March, 11.45 pm - Episode 6
• Wednesday, 12 March, 11.15 pm - Episode 7
• Wednesday, 12 March, 11.45 pm - Episode 8
• Wednesday, 19 March, 11.15 pm - Episode 9
• Wednesday, 19 March, 11.45 pm - Episode 10