Menu
While several multinational organizations (European Union, IMO, ASEAN, etc.) and individual states have specialized definitions of “search and rescue” and its related operations, in general, maritime search and rescue (SAR) is a maritime safety operation referring to the highly coordinated efforts to provide assistance to persons or vessels in distress at sea, which is usually given regardless of their status or nationality. One of the most common forms of search and rescue is “air-sea rescue” (ASR or A/SR), referred to as aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is conducted over water.
Formalized maritime search and rescue considerations date back to more than a century ago. Sparked by the sinking of the Titanic, the 1914 Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention (amended in 1929, 1948, 1960, and 1974) is regarded as “the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships.” Still, while air-sea rescue coordination was developed during World War II and some states continued post-war developments themselves, the formalized concept of maritime search and rescue truly began to take shape at the international level in the 1970s. The SAR Convention—adopted at a Conference in Hamburg, Germany on April 27, 1979 and entered into force on June 22, 1985—is another leading international convention on coordinated search and rescue efforts and obligations. Notably, the SAR Convention was successfully amended two decades later after many substantial concerns on government responsibilities were addressed, making it more broadly acceptable and further emphasizing coordination.
As the end of the 20th century approached, several supplemental actions related to SAR were taken at the international level. From 1979-1998, the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee successfully divided the world’s oceans into 13 search and rescue areas, “in each of which the countries concerned have delimited search and rescue regions for which they are responsible.” The IMO’s Global SAR Plan, as a “necessary and practical tool for SAR operations,” was developed with the intention of “defining detailed responsibilities for each member nation” as part of the global community. Additionally, several region-specific and charity organizations (International Maritime Rescue Federation, Association for Rescue at Sea, Search and Rescue Charitable Foundation, International Ice Patrol, etc.) were created to support SAR operations. Several other formal international agreements include elements of or direct references to search and rescue. The most notable of these are the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (Article 98 – Duty to render assistance) and the 1949 Geneva Convention (Article 27 – Protection of coastal rescue craft and fixed coastal installations). The International Maritime Organization still maintains a “minimum list” of the “essential” publications and documents online specifically related to maritime search and rescue.
Individual states also usually have domestic regulations, laws, as well as bilateral and multilateral agreements at the domestic level that include mention of maritime search and rescue, the operations of which typically fall under the purview of their coast guard or air force.
While SAR operations regularly take place around the world in varying scale and for a variety of reasons, in June 2023, there were two particular cases that received ongoing global attention: the capsizing of a migrant boat in the Mediterranean Sea and the disappearance of a tourist submersible near the wreckage of the Titanic shipwreck in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
On June 13, a fishing trawler carrying an estimated 750-800 (more than 300 of whom were Pakistani, according to Pakistan) migrant people capsized about 50 miles off the southern coast of Greece after its engine broke down, marking the deadliest sinking off Greece since 2015. Greek authorities say that 104 survivors and 78 bodies have been brought ashore so far through SAR efforts. Meanwhile, questions have since been raised about the Greek Coast Guard’s potential accidental role in the capsizing as they had arrived on scene but had “no connection” to the sinking itself. “[A] shift in weight probably caused by panic and the boat capsized. As soon as we got there, we started our rescue operation to collect those who were in the water,” explained a Greek Coast Guard spokesman.
Five days later on June 18, the deep-sea submersible the Titan carrying five people went missing around the site of the Titanic shipwreck in the North Atlantic Ocean, launching a five-day, multinational search and rescue operation. A Unified Command was established out of the Polar Prince research vessel which launched the Titan. Search teams from the U.S., Canada, France, and Britain jointly scanned thousands of miles with planes and ships for a sign of the vessel, sharing information and deploying “all assets” of search and rescue mission technologies, specialty crafts, and trained tactics. The operation ended once a debris field including the hull of the Titan, likely caused by a “catastrophic implosion,” was found by a robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship, leading SAR operators to declare all five people dead and observers to raise their own questions and observations.
Since the 1979 SAR Convention, search and rescue has become an increasingly regular point of discussion, with many states having since developed their own definitions, declarations and training systems; both domestically and multilaterally. Search and rescue—similar to ecological sustainability and scientific research—is a reliable point of intersection for establishing and maintaining cooperation, even amidst dueling states. As SAR requires formal training, many states take these opportunities to conduct maritime search and rescue-related drills and exercises between their armed forces, such as those just held between the U.S., Japan and the Philippines in the South China Sea in early June. Even in highly tense regions like the South China Sea, search and rescue is finding its value, with ASEAN publishing a milestone ASEAN Agreement on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Cooperation in January 2023. In another, yet older, example, the U.S. Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Safety Administration held bilateral SAR training exercises in 2012, though such operations now seem nonexistent as the relationship has become strained.
As much as SAR can be a gathering force, as it is a regulated practice, it can also become divisive. For instance, the issue of unregulated maritime migration in the Mediterranean Sea has long been an increasing issue for regional states. Notably, this capsizing in June occurred soon after the European Commission released a “Draft Roadmap towards a ‘European Framework for Operational Cooperation on Search and Rescue in the Mediterranean Sea’,” written by the Search and Rescue Contact Group who have been holding meetings since January 2023 to develop this framework. This draft’s context, such as its inclusion of vessel “registration and certification,” has received mixed response from states including Germany who gave a full paper response to each of the nine deliverables. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also spoke up in response, calling for regional countries to clamp down on human smuggling and maritime safety. Meanwhile, having another jarringly different SAR operation being conducted around the same time in the North Atlantic caused some observers to directly criticize the equality of reception regarding these two very different SAR situations.
Despite these understandable cases, which are often sprinkled with historical context and political agendas, it remains true that maritime search and rescue offers a practical point of mutually beneficial connection between states. Rather than relying solely on domestic, regional and international regulations—which can easily become too narrowly focused or overly generalized—neighboring coastal states should discuss maritime search and rescue operations with one another in a bilateral capacity to build the most reasonable and mutually beneficial solution between them. Especially for major maritime states and states simply in need of a positive point of connection, SAR should not be continually hidden within a simple list of cooperative efforts, but be given its own platform for improvement.
This Spotlight was originally released with Volume 2, Issue 6 of the ICAS MAP Handbill, published on June 27, 2023.
This issue’s Spotlight was written by Jessica Martin, ICAS Research Associate & Chief Editor, ICAS Newsletters.
Maritime Affairs Program Spotlights are a short-form written background and analysis of a specific issue related to maritime affairs, which changes with each issue. The goal of the Spotlight is to help our readers quickly and accurately understand the basic background of a vital topic in maritime affairs and how that topic relates to ongoing developments today.
There is a new Spotlight released with each issue of the ICAS Maritime Affairs Program (MAP) Handbill – a regular newsletter released the last Tuesday of every month that highlights the major news stories, research products, analyses, and events occurring in or with regard to the global maritime domain during the past month.
ICAS Maritime Affairs Handbill (online ISSN 2837-3901, print ISSN 2837-3871) is published the last Tuesday of the month throughout the year at 1919 M St NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036.
The online version of ICAS Maritime Affairs Handbill can be found at chinaus-icas.org/icas-maritime-affairs-program/map-handbill/.
The Institute for China-America Studies is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening the understanding of U.S.-China relations through expert analysis and practical policy solutions.
1919 M St. NW Suite 310,
Washington, DC 20036
icas@chinaus-icas.org
(202) 968-0595
© 2024 INSTITUTE FOR CHINA-AMERICA STUDIES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.