AMVER Awards come to Europort

The awards will be held on the afternoon of Tuesday 7 November at the port city’s Rotterdam Ahoy venue alongside the exhibition to recognise the contribution of search and rescue companies from the Netherlands around the world.

“Rotterdam is a major port and presenting AMVER awards to our Dutch partners at Europort just makes sense. This is the premier event at which to recognise the good work by Dutch shipping companies and their crews,” said Benjamin M Strong, director, AMVER Maritime Relations at the US Coast Guard.

Currently, there are 165 vessels managed by 31 Dutch companies that have earned AMVER awards, which are presented to vessels that have been available for search and rescue efforts in the previous calendar year.

These ships voluntarily report their positions to the US Coast Guard and if needed they are diverted to assist in search and rescue cases anywhere in the world.

The awards recognise the cost to shipping in terms of safety, staff hours, lost port calls and fuel, if these ships are asked to respond.

AMVER will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2018. The computer system determines the best ship, or ships, to respond to a distress call. On any given day, there are over 7,000 vessels participating in AMVER that are available to divert and assist in a distress situation.

By Anne-Marie Causer