Interview: Spain’sSalvage Director Jose Luis Garcia Lena Talks Maritime Rescue
Interview by Paul Gonz ález-Morgan (Marine Strategy)– Jose Luis Garcia Lena is Director of Spain’s Salvage and also Maritime Safety Society (SASEMAR), called “Salvamento Maritimo” (SM), primarily committed to the defense of life mixed-up. Created in 1992 by the Law of State Ports Authority and also Merchant Marine, it ended up being functional in 1993, lately commemorating its 25th wedding anniversary.
Garcia Lena is a marine designer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and also holds a Masters in Leadership and also Public Management, by theMenendez Pelayo International University He has actually held the placement of Deputy Director General of Safety, Pollution and also Maritime Inspection in the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine, from May 2016 up until his visit as Director of SASEMAR. Previously, and also given that signing up with the body of marine designers of the Ministry in 2006, he had actually held various other placements of obligation such as Deputy Director General of Maritime Inspection, Head of Technology & & Technical Support Area and also Head of Service and alsoMarine Inspector He formerly functioned outside the Administration in firms connected to the market such as Spanish Shipyards.
In April 2019 you were designated by the Spanish Ministry of Development, Director of SM. How has your previous experience and also understanding aided you in your duty?
Before I tackled my present placement, I would certainly comply with every action, every emergency situation and also every aquatic rescue as I was Deputy Director General of Security, Pollution and also Maritime Inspection in the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine, and also before this I had actually been operating in various other placements in the very same company for years. As you recognize, SM is the functional arm of the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine, and also salvage employees act in control with the policemans of the General Directorate in all saves and also emergency situations, so I understood and also had actually currently collaborated with SM on several events. I have actually likewise belonged to the Board of Directors of SM given that May 2016, so I was cognizant of the outstanding job done by the group. The company I handle is complicated, as it covers both management concerns and also extremely technological issues. Ever given that I began functioning, I have actually been backed by wonderful experts with years of experience.
Please inform us concerning your primary tasks as Head of SM:
SM is a company that we become aware of daily in the media, nevertheless, it is a wonderful unidentified. Few individuals recognize that it comes from the Spanish Ministry ofDevelopment It was produced by the present Spanish Minister Josep Borrell in 1993 and also has actually simply commemorated its 25th wedding anniversary. Few companies can state that they are committed to something as attractive and also essential for individuals as securing their lives when they remain in threat mixed-up, helping tidy seas and also managing the web traffic of ships to guarantee maritime security. To comprehend what SM is truly around, I welcome you to shut your eyes, think of that you remain in the center of a tornado mixed-up, your watercraft is sinking, and also you drop crazy. And in the center of that hopeless circumstance, a pleasant hand shows up to save you and also takes you back to your household– that is SM.
An company of which as a nation, and also I specifically as a Director, we can truly boast of, according to responses obtained by seafarers and also individuals that have actually been associated with rescue operations.es
Years ago prior to this body also existed, the opportunities of simple cases winding up in emergency situations were a lot higher. Equally, it was much less possible that a response/rescue procedure would certainly finish effectively.
The boost of experts, training, media, innovation, styles, treatments, renovations …, it has actually gone over in simply 25 years. That has actually been and also is SM, the assurance of having the very best feasible reaction to an emergency situation mixed-up. And my duty is to lead this company with wonderful experts in each area, from facility planners, maritime and also aircrew, specialized diving specialists, staffs, and so on
The R location is extremely considerable, covering greater than 1.5 million km2. How do you handle the sources you presently have?
As you explain, Spain is left using global conventions the search and also rescue of an aquatic location of 1.5 million km2. It is a huge job, as the security and also rescue is in fact equal to 3 timesSpain As for the monitoring of sources, our arrangement is dispersed throughout the nationwide area with one of the most sophisticated innovation, to which we need to include that of the working together firms, in addition to any type of vessel that exists in the location, which at any type of provided time can end up being the fastest alternative to perform a rescue.
SM in Spain is an international criteria. We have a lot of sources released throughout the nationwide area, particularly: 20 rescue control centres, 87 sea and also air devices, 6 calculated bases with scuba divers and also reaction devices made for wonderful midsts in 2 of them; and also I do not wish to fail to remember the Jovellanos Centre, situated in Asturias, which is a recommendation in training for both our experts and also for outside individuals thinking about training in the area of maritime security.
But the essential point -and also what truly requires to be valued- is the job of the greater than 1,600 experts we have: team from control towers, the teams of our ships, airplanes and also helicopters …, job to be valued, as these work call for wonderful expertise.
What is the National Maritime Rescue Plan?
The Ministry of Development is servicing the explanation of an enthusiastic“National Plan for Special Services for the Rescue of Human Life at Sea and for the Fight Against Pollution of the Marine Environment” Among the goals of the Plan is to work with the activities of the various sources with the ability of executing search procedures, the rescue of human lives and also the battle versus aquatic air pollution, coming from the numerous Administrations, in addition to public and also personal organizations. This Plan likewise consists of the activities and also financial investments prepared for the years 2019, 2020 and also 2021. It is presently in the procedure of being authorized byCabinet Ministers The Plan is based upon the brand-new European Maritime Transport Strategy, concentrating on 3 locations: efficiency and also effectiveness, decarbonization and also digitalization.
What are the activity methods adhering to an emergency situation telephone call mixed-up?
Every emergency situation has to have a fast reaction to guarantee success in its resolution. Although it is virtually difficult for 2 similar emergency situations to take place, which might be solved by using a the same reaction for both, we can develop an order of procedures intending to act as a basic overview, as emergency situations mixed-up have a tendency to develop adhering to the very same phases or patterns that prevail to all cases, and also act as a basis for arranging one of the most suitable reaction procedure. This means, from the minute that the opportunity of an emergency situation exists, the control facilities need to start a reaction procedure that can be developed in numerous typical stages.
The initial stage would certainly be obtaining the sharp, which can get to the working with facilities in various methods, both standard and also automated. Then, the following stage includes the release of sources, air and also sea, and also the preparation of the procedure to accomplish optimal effectiveness. The control is accomplished by the Rescue Coordination Centres, together with the Maritime Authority of the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine, and also the maritime or airborne groups in charge of executing the search and also rescue procedures whose primary purpose is to secure human life, and also second of all helping to conserve the vessel if required. The procedure proceeds up until the rescue activities from the Coordination Centre are “wrapped up and also the devices go back to base. Every Life Saved
Is Our Greatest Reward
There are likewise procedures in which, although the life of individuals is not in jeopardy, there might be a threat of air pollution of the aquatic setting. In those situations, SM acts in a comparable means, with the purpose of avoiding the air pollution of our seas.
What are the difficulties in avoiding and also dealing with versus air pollution of the aquatic setting?
Aerial security of our seas is a crucial device to avoid air pollution by ships in navigating. SM does extensive security collaborate with its aircrafts and also European satellites to guarantee that ships do not contaminate. Each year we keep track of the matching of 250 times the Spanish area.
In enhancement to the security job of our aircrafts and also satellites, which is a preventative job, we fight the air pollution splashes that are likewise discovered by our air or sea sources. To this impact we depend on collection vessels specifically made to resolve this sort of air pollution such as multi-purpose rescue and also air pollution control vessels, which become part of the maritime devices dispersed along the whole Spanish shore. These ships likewise act in case of an event or shipwreck, which might entail air pollution.
Apart from this, we likewise perform a variety of tasks by increasing neighborhood recognition to maintain the setting, such as the activation of the #mareslimpios (“clean seas”) project. Please enable me to show to your viewers, ought to they desire to use, that we have actually simply provided the ODS14 SM honors to compensate all those efforts that have or are adding to the enhancement and also preservation of our seas. The reward problems are readily available on our site.
What type of training is given by the Jovellanos Center?
Firstly, allow me highlight that it is a facility of recommendation at a European degree as it covers maritime training, safety, fire combating, and so on. It is a facility for varied training in several areas associated with the security of life mixed-up and also the battle versus air pollution of the seas.
Designed from an extensive solution viewpoint, it is outfitted with contemporary sources and also centers and also very certified technological and also specialist team. It has actually ended up being a vital component of assistance for the training tasks of the National Maritime Safety and also Rescue Plan.
The facility’s primary feature is to supply thorough training in maritime, port and also commercial safety, avoidance of work-related risks and also the battle versus air pollution, resolved mostly to the employees of SM, as I pointed out previously, as well as likewise to experts in the maritime market, and also various other teams with unique safety and also air pollution control demands. The remainder of its task focuses on the adhering to particular locations: technological aid for jobs, researches and also emergency situation strategies; the growth of examinations and also the homologation of individual defense devices and also rescue tools (life vest, drifts, plethoras …) and also the organisation and also engagement busy and also workshops in addition to participation and also research study in European and also nationwide jobs.
What guidance would certainly you offer to those brand-new seafarers in order to enhance their safety?
New seafarers need to know that the aquatic setting can be unsafe, specifically if they do not have much experience. Taking all preventative measures is never ever an overstatement. In enhancement to having sufficient training, attempt to accomplish a placement of “zero risk”, with a concentrate on avoidance.
On our site www.salvamentomaritimo.es and also with our social media networks we provide straightforward everyday guidance to individuals that come close to the sea in various tasks. Anyway, when every little thing else falls short, SM will certainly constantly look out to secure human life mixed-up, all the time, so understanding the methods and also methods to request for our assistance is likewise a means of avoidance.
What factors would certainly you highlight concerning the preparation and also method for the following year?
We wish to proceed being an affordable solution, ensuring the defense of the aquatic setting, concentrating on digitalization and also development. We comprehend that we are, that is why we wish to keep our toughness, manipulate the brand-new technical chances that emerge and also deal with the weak points that might arise. The method to comply with, specified in the National Plan Draft, is lined up with the EU Maritime Transport Policy, specified up until 2020 in the Valletta Ministerial Declaration.
The method complies with 3 axes, which are damaged down right into lines and also efforts:
- In the area of competition, we understand that a public rescue solution and also the battle versus air pollution indicates using efficient and also reliable solutions. This, to name a few procedures, will certainly lead us to the consolidation of brand-new sorts of methods such as drones, in addition to to the revival of the present fleet, to ensure the very best sources. The constant training of experts and also ideal control with suitable activity strategies and also treatments are likewise component of this axis.
- The axis of decarbonization and also sustainability, the present system of avoidance, rescue and also air pollution control is a strong system devoted to lasting growth. Nevertheless, brand-new difficulties emerge because of technical renovations, lawful demands, brand-new dedications and also a progressively requiring culture, which call for proceeding and also broadening the solution to brand-new difficulties. These brand-new difficulties have -as their supreme objective- a cleaner aquatic setting. For instance, the stability of tugboats with LNG and also the decrease of air contamination from the fleet will certainly be examined.
- The rescue, air pollution control and also maritime web traffic control system needs digitalisation that enables a sufficient monitoring of the substantial quantity of details and also real-time interaction in between all the aspects that comprise the system. Meanwhile, development is the engine that enables integrating brand-new capacities to enhance solutions. An instance of this is the I-SAR task in which an initial examination has actually been made to the marketplace, given that there are incipient modern technologies that have opportunities of being used in these locations, such as using drones, the growth of discovery sensing units or progression in functional oceanography.
Do you keep in mind a specific rescue procedure that you would love to show to us?
Recently, in June we accomplished a complicated rescue of the 5 team participants of a sailing boat in the center of a serious tornado inGalicia It occurred 85 miles northwest of A Coru ña. At the moment in the location there were extremely harsh seas with waves of in between 4 and also 6 meters and also winds of 65 knots (120 km/h). In the middle of this serious tornado, the Helimer 401 helicopter team of A Coru ña saved these 5 individuals. The rescue was extremely complicated as S/Y LoaZour was persuading marvelously as it was entirely adrift. Faced with this circumstance, the rescuer might not come down to the real ship. Finally, the 5 team were saved individually from the sea and also later on moved to Alvedro in excellent problem. They openly thanked our job and also the truth that we conserved their lives. Every life conserved is our best benefit.
This video clip tape-recorded by our helicopter group demonstrates how made complex the procedure was:
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