British Maritime and Coastguard Agency Sea of Change Project Reaches Completion

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY News Release (077/07) issued by The Government News Network on 19 March 2007 -- On Thursday 22 March, at Greenock Fire Station Strathclyde, Peter Dymond, Chief Coastguard, will officially close the Sea of Change Project. The Sea of Change Project was officially launched in 2003 by the then Secretary of State, Department for Transport, Alistair Darling. The Project was set up and funded by the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency) in a partnership with the Chief Fire Officers' Association to establish a Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) which would, for the first time in the UK, provide specialised fire and rescue teams for dealing with firefighting, chemical hazards and industrial accident incidents at sea.

The event has been organized in partnership with Strathclyde Fire and Rescue who are celebrating formally declaring as a resource to the MCA.

The new MIRG is a powerful addition to the United Kingdom's integrated search and rescue response capability. It will also be developed to have the capacity to react by air to incidents anywhere in the country, not just at sea.

The MIRG comprises teams from 15 Fire and Rescue Services strategically located around the coast, with about 50 fire fighters available for each team. Each team has been equipped to tackle incidents in the marine environment. The teams will not only fight fires but also deal with chemical hazards and free trapped personnel in vessels at sea.

In addition, the teams' specialised training, allied to a helicopter capability, will provide a valuable, additional resource for the emergency services across the rest of the UK. Each team will be reinforced with paramedics who will also be trained in the unique conditions that they may face particularly in the maritime environment.

This new service, one of the first of its kind in the world, is the result of a major cross-governmental project involving some of the principal organisations behind the UK's civil resilience, supported by almost £3m of funding from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Department for Transport.

Peter Dymond, Chief Coastguard said:

"The skill, professionalism and bravery of the UK's Emergency Services are second to none. We need to continue to do all we can to help them deal with the difficult and often unpredictable situations they face day after day.

The new Maritime Incident Response Group will strengthen our capability to respond to fires and other emergencies that occur at sea, with highly-trained teams able to be deployed by helicopter or by sea at short notice.

But this new arrangement also has the potential to benefit UK civil resilience as a whole as the capability and mobility of the MIRG teams will enable them to respond quickly to emergencies anywhere in the country, not just to those at sea. The MIRG is the first of its kind in the world and already other countries are beginning to develop similar arrangements based on the UK model.

The MCA has built upon the success of the MIRG national strategy delivered by the Sea of Change project by putting in place the infrastructure to ensure the effective management of the MIRG. This is achieved by funding the posts of MCA/Fire Liaison Manager and Training Officer. These two seconded Fire Officers are supported by administration staff at MCA Headquarters in Southampton. "

NOTES:

1. The Maritime Incident Response Group is a cross-government project which includes the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Fire & Rescue Services (FRS), the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), Communities and Local Government (CLG), and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

2. The Sea of Change project was launched by the MCA at the request of the Secretary of State for Transport in January 2003. A project manager was seconded to the MCA from Cornwall County Fire Brigade, with support from a technical officer from the ODPM (now CLG). The project team worked closely with coastal Fire Services, as well as other interested parties including HM Fire Service Inspectorate; the Fire Service College and Fire Policy Division, the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), and the MoD. The project has achieved its major objectives :

- the establishment of the Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG).

- the provision of specialist training and enhanced safety standards for the safe deployment of firefighters at sea

- the development and provision of equipment required for the safety of firefighters operating in the maritime environment

4. MIRG comprises 15 Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) teams strategically located around the country:

Strathclyde
Northumberland
Suffolk
Hampshire
North Wales
Highland Islands
Humberside
Kent
Cornwall
Jersey
Lothian and Borders
Lincolnshire
East Sussex
Mid and West Wales
Guernsey

MIRG website www.mirg.org.uk

Source: Maritime and Coastguard Agency