Our professional and specialist crew is an important part of what makes MOAS the field-leading organization it has become. We are proud of our team on the front lines and we are constantly getting questions about the kind of people we have on board and the various positions they fill. This new weekly profile will introduce you to members of our team and give you an insight into their background and role on board.
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This week we have look through the window into the life of our FRDC Coxswain Peter.
“My name is Pete and I drive the Fast Rescue Daughter Crafts (FRDC) carried on the side of the Responder. They are smaller and more manoeuvrable boats that we launch when we are conducting rescues. It is my job to drive the FRDC and oversee the rescue, giving instructions to the other crew – our able-bodied seamen and rescue swimmers – who are on board the FRDC. I also assist with the general maintenance of the deck, post-rescue.
In my previous jobs we would usually launch an FRDC to provide cover for offshore installations in the North Sea. Here, we launch to pick people up from dangerous vessels that would never reach their destination. Often, the boats are in distress, with people already in the water when we reach them.
A recent rescue that really stood out for me involved a rubber dinghy that was floundering because it had no engine or way to propel itself. We launched the FRDC with an able-bodied seaman and a rescue swimmer on board. We don’t know what happened to the engine – perhaps a fisherman had taken it, or they had dumped it because it wasn’t working.
It was a particularly tricky rescue because the rubber dinghy couldn’t hold itself in position. It had no tiller, so it was just sliding over the water with around 162 people on board. The weather wasn’t great so I couldn’t bring the FRDC alongside windward side of the vessel – where we would have most control – meaning everything had to be done from the leeward side. When we were handing out life jackets or taking people on board, I was actually using the FRDC to nudge the vessel around to try and keep it as steady as possible. That was a challenging rescue, but we got everyone safely on board.”
See Peter at work in the video below:
If you have a question for Peter, or the rest of our team, simply #AskMOAS on social media. For all the MOAS news and updates sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of this page. Finally, support our rescue missions by giving whatever you can to help us save lives at sea.