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Fishing Industry Leader Concerned Over Coastguard SAR Helicopter Transition Restrictions
The first of the new AW 189 helicopters operated by Bristow Ireland began flying from Shannon on December 8th.
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A south-west coast fishing industry leader has expressed concern about restrictions with the Irish Coast Guard ’s Shannon search and rescue helicopter during transition to a new operator.
As The Sunday Independent reports, Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation (IS&WFPO) chief executive Patrick Murphy was commenting on the Shannon base’s transition to new operator Bristow Ireland.
The first of the new AW 189 helicopters operated by Bristow Ireland began flying from Shannon on December 8th.
Irish South and West Fish Producers’ Organisation (IS&WFPO) chief executive Patrick Murphy
However, as the newspaper reports, on December 12th and 13th, Rescue 115 at Shannon was declared as having no night time capability, and winching could not take place from a vessel at sea if required.
On December 18th, the Sligo-based Rescue 118 crew had to cover for Shannon on a tasking from the Aran island of Inis Mór to University Hospital Galway, as Rescue 115 was not available.
It was one of several instances this month where Rescue 118 had to respond to a medical evacuation from the Aran islands.
Murphy said he was very concerned that Shannon did not have full SAR capability, in a situation where the takeover by Bristow Ireland there had already been delayed several weeks.
It is “critical that an injured person on a vessel can be winched off”, Murphy said.
To have a helicopter unable to undertake this is like “an ambulance without wheels” for the fishing fleets operating off the west coast, he said.
The Sligo, Waterford and Dublin SAR helicopter bases are currently being operated by the outgoing contractor, CHC Ireland.
All four bases are due to complete transition to the new operator between now and the end of June 2025.
Bristow was awarded the 800 million euro ten-year contract to provide aviation services to the Irish Coast Guard last August, with a fleet of AW189 helicopters replacing the Sikorsky S-92 helicopters flown by CHC Ireland.
CHC Ireland has a legal action in train over the awarding of the new contract.
Earlier this month, former Irish Coast Guard director Chris Reynolds said that he believed that the timeline was “too tight” for the handover for all four SAR helicopter bases from current contract holder CHC Ireland to Bristow Ireland.
Bristow Ireland has already confirmed that a winch crew in training off the west coast suffered what it described as a “minor injury”, and said that “training and operating in dynamic environments means minor injuries can occur”.
Bristow Ireland said that “as Shannon operations become established, there may be limited periods when aviation readiness is temporarily reduced as the phased transition continues”.
“Bristow Ireland is working diligently with key stakeholders and it is anticipated these early-stage issues will be resolved shortly,” it said.
“The national SAR service is unaffected and bases continue to operate a synchronised service, providing a network of emergency support across the country,” Bristow Ireland said.
The Department of Transport said on behalf of the Irish Coast Guard that its “overarching objective is the safe and effective transition of the search and rescue aviation contract without interruption to services”.
“As has been proven over many years the existence of four bases provides a resilience for service delivery, so that when individual bases become temporarily unavailable the workload is shared amongst the other bases with the specific requirements for each mission being assessed as they arise,” the department said
“ The department does not share information on availability of bases at any given time and does not consider it would be appropriate to do so in the case of the new contract,” it said.
The department said it was “also cognisant of ongoing legal challenges to contract award dating back to 2023”.
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The Irish Coast Guard is Ireland's fourth 'Blue Light' service (along with An Garda Síochána, the Ambulance Service and the Fire Service). It provides a nationwide maritime emergency organisation as well as a variety of services to shipping and other government agencies.
The purpose of the Irish Coast Guard is to promote safety and security standards, and by doing so, prevent as far as possible, the loss of life at sea, and on inland waters, mountains and caves, and to provide effective emergency response services and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment.
The Irish Coast Guard has responsibility for Ireland's system of marine communications, surveillance and emergency management in Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and certain inland waterways.
It is responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue and counter-pollution and ship casualty operations. It also has responsibility for vessel traffic monitoring.
Operations in respect of maritime security, illegal drug trafficking, illegal migration and fisheries enforcement are co-ordinated by other bodies within the Irish Government.
On average, each year, the Irish Coast Guard is expected to:
* assist 4,500 people and save about 200 lives
* task Coast Guard helicopters on missions
The Coast Guard has been aroundin some form in Irelandsince 1908.
Coast Guard helicopters
The Irish Coast Guard has contracted five medium-lift Sikorsky Search and Rescue helicopters deployed at bases in Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo.
The helicopters are designated wheels up from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours and 45 minutes at night. One aircraft is fitted and its crew trained for under slung cargo operations up to 3000kgs and is available on short notice based at Waterford.
These aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains of Ireland (32 counties).
They can also be used for assistance in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and aerial surveillance during daylight hours, lifting and passenger operations and other operations as authorised by the Coast Guard within appropriate regulations.
The Irish Coast Guard provides nationwide maritime emergency response, while also promoting safety and security standards. It aims to prevent the loss of life at sea, on inland waters, on mountains and in caves; and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment.
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