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Arthur Barbier and Tanguy Le Coq are both passionate about safety at sea. They met as watch leaders at CROSS. They still perform this function today at CROSS Antilles Guyane, based in Martinique. And when it came to orchestrating rescue operations, they realized there was a gap. The tool used to contact rescue stations around the world, the MRCCs (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres), was not up to date. Many phone numbers and emails were out of date.
To remedy this problem, they created their own system. And rather than limiting it to internal use, they decided to make it freely available to all users. Thus was born Global SAR, with Sea SAR for the maritime side and Air SAR for the aeronautical side.
This free website provides contact details for every MRCC in the world! It includes the main MRCC stations, as well as the MRSC (Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre), JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Centre) and JRSC (Joint Rescue Sub-Center) sub-stations.
What's in it for the boater?
When you go offshore, you "depend" on local lifeguards. The oceans are divided, and each part calls on different rescue services. Global SAR's map of the globe shows this clearly.
In the event of distress, you naturally have to trigger your beacon and make a distress call with your VHF, but if you have the contact of the MRCC on which you depend, the rescue launch phase will be greatly accelerated by bringing all the information from your board directly to the person directing your rescue. According to Arthur Barbier, the time saved can be one to two hours if you wait for your beacon message to be analyzed and the CROSS in France to contact the local rescuers.
For example, if you set out on a transatlantic voyage from Brest to Martinique, you'll pass through France, then Portugal, then perhaps Morocco if you're close to the coast, and finally Spain at the Canaries. Then it's Dakar as you approach Cape Verde, and finally Guyane Antilles for the rest of the crossing. So you'll be depending on 6 different rescue services. Being able to inform them of your route seems like a good, simple idea to increase your safety...
Already used by MRCCs
Today, Global SAR is up and running. It is already used by 120 countries around the world, including France. The first available version just allows you to view MRCC contacts. This is already an enormous help in preparing a navigation by noting the various contacts in the zones you're about to cross.
New functions to follow
A new version is due to be released at the end of summer 2024. This will enable us to plot a route on the map and automatically notify local MRCCs of our sailing intentions, with planned dates, boat registration, crew composition and persons to be notified... In this way, MRCCs will be alerted to your presence in the area and can react as quickly as possible if a search is triggered.
