Salvage gate

Rescue gate, closed, on the starboard stern of the DGzRS boat Woltera

A rescue gate is a door set into the side of the ship's side on a lifeboat or a rescue cruiser , which enables the rescue of castaways or the taking over of injured persons in a horizontal position at the level of the waterline. This is to avoid, among other things, the rescue death that can happen to the hypothermic when suddenly changing position.

The rescue gates have been tried and tested by the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People, initially on the smaller rescue boats. Due to the good experience gained there, such a rescue gate was also installed on the largest German rescue cruiser, the Hermann Marwede .