SAR is Global Responsibility: IMO
Search and rescue (SAR) is a humanitarian process, aimed at assisting persons in distress, without regard to the nationality or circumstances of the persons in distress.
International Maritime Organization (IMO) 's Chris Trelawny highlighted this global responsibility, during the first Coast Guard Global Summit, jointly hosted by the Japan Coast Guard and Tokyo-based Nippon Foundation, in Tokyo (14 September).
He also outlined the international legal framework for SAR; the implementation of effective SAR systems; and the need for and benefit of international and inter-regional cooperation for effective SAR on a global basis.
Search and rescue officials from more than 30 countries attended the summit. Following the adoption of the 1979 SAR Convention, IMO's Maritime Safety Committee 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.
