Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij
| Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij (KNRM) | |
|---|---|
|
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| legal form | Foundation, endowment |
| founding | 1991 |
| Seat | Haringkade 2 1976 CP IJmuiden Netherlands ( ⊙ ) |
| precursor | Merger of the KNZHRM and the KZHMRS |
| motto | Rescue people - quickly, professionally and free of charge |
| purpose | Sea rescue |
| Action space | Dutch North Sea |
| Managing directors | Dedan PJSchmidt (Director) |
| sales | approx. 17 million euros |
| Employees | 70 |
| Volunteers | 1325 (34 women) |
| Website | knrm.nl |
The Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij (KNRM) is the sea rescue organization in the Netherlands. On behalf of the Dutch Coast Guard , she is responsible for the Search and Rescue Service (SAR) on the Dutch North Sea coast including the Wadden Sea between the islands. It also guards the large inland waters of the IJsselmeer , Markermeer and the marginal seas of Flevoland, as well as the entire Rhine-Maas delta in Zuid-Holland and Zeeland .
Tasks and organization
The KNRM is a foundation based in IJmuiden. 45 stations (as of 2018) are maintained for the SAR services, which are alerted and coordinated by the Kustwachtcentrum in Den Helder ( JRCC ). The rescue stations are available 24 hours a day and are almost exclusively staffed by volunteers. Approx. 1,300 employees ensure that over 3,000 people are rescued from danger at sea every year. 78 lifeboats (as of 2018) are available for this purpose, which are ready for use in 15 minutes after an alarm.
Since 2010, the KNRM has as another object the lifeguard (Lifeguard) in the summer months on the four West Frisian Islands Vlieland , Terschelling , Ameland and Schiermonnikoog taken. Around 100 KNRM lifeguards supervise the leisure activities on the beach in a beach area marked out with red and yellow flags . As a partner of the rescue brigade ( Reddingsbrigade Nederland ), the KNRM supports their activities on the North Sea coast as well as in the waters of Zeeland and the IJsselmeer.
With the Radio Medical Service (RMD), the KNRM offers support in the event of serious accidents or illnesses on board a seagoing ship or yacht all over the world. A captain can ask a doctor for advice at the RMD free of charge. The doctors are available around the clock for emergencies and are able to diagnose even over long distances. Advice is given by the RMD more than 750 times each year.
The KNRM also offers support on land with special coastal rescue vehicles . The rescue stations on the North Sea coast take over the transport of the light beach lifeboats with these KHV trucks (KHV Kusthulpverlening) and support the search on land as part of the SAR tasks. The KHV trucks are also part of the rescue chain when the police and fire brigade are deployed . Usually, the KNRM takes over the transport of accident victims in the beach and dune area, as the vehicles can also operate in difficult to access terrain.
As with the German Society for Rescue of Shipwrecked People (DGzRS), it is financed through private donations. In contrast to the DGzRS, the KNRM sees its core task in saving people under the motto “Save and help people. Fast, professional and free ”. The technical assistance is only provided to a very limited extent, e.g. B. There are no extensive fire-fighting facilities as on German ships.
history
In October 1824 there was a shipwreck off the coast of Huisduinen . Three shipwrecked people and six rescuers were killed in the dramatic rescue operation . This was taken as an opportunity to set up an organized rescue system with rescue stations along the Dutch coast. Thus, on 11 November 1824 in Amsterdam , the Noord- en Zuid-Hollandsche Redding Maatschappij (NZHRM) founded - also Noord called. She was responsible for the northern coastline with the Wadden Sea of the West Frisian Islands and the Zuiderzee . Nine days later on November 20, 1824, the Zuid-Hollandsche Maatschappij tot Redding van Schipbreukelingen (ZHMRS), also called Zuid , was founded in Rotterdam . Your responsibility began in Ter Heijde south of Scheveningen and included the large delta of the Rhine, Maas and Scheldt with its many islands and peninsulas. In the south the area reached as far as West Flanders , but in 1830 it went to the Kingdom of Belgium . At the same time an appeal was made to the Dutch population to donate money for the organized rescue. Since then, many volunteers have made sure that rescue stations are set up along the Dutch coast to rescue people in need at sea.
1949, both companies received the royal privilege and 1991 took place fusion of the two organizations Noord and Zuid for today Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij . Originally the focus of the work was on rescue operations for commercial shipping, over the course of time the assistance for water sports enthusiasts in distress has grown significantly.
The history of sea rescue in the Netherlands is presented in the National Rescue Museum 'Dorus Rijkers'. It is located on the historic shipyard of the Royal Navy in Den Helder. Older lifeboats can be viewed here.
Since its inception, the KNRM has lost 69 rescue services at sea. In 1934, Queen Wilhelmina inaugurated the National Monument for Rescue Services with carillon in Den Helder on the Helden der Zeeplein square .
Boat classes in the fleet
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The lifeboats of the KNRM have experienced a strong technical development over time. The rowing lifeboats built at the beginning were given air boxes to make them as 'unsinkable' as possible. However, it often took a long time for a rowing lifeboat to reach a ship in distress. With the installation of engines at the beginning of the 20th century, the approach time could be shortened considerably. Another major innovation was the self-righting lifeboat : a system of valves ensured that asymmetrical tanks in the ship would right the ship again after capsizing. This principle has always been used since the 1930s. From the 80s of the last century, aluminum hulls replaced the old and heavy steel hulls, which enabled a further increase in speed.
Today, 78 rescue units of various sizes are available for the SAR service. Of these, 34 are larger lifeboats with a length of more than 10 meters. All lifeboats are rigid inflatable boats (RIB) in terms of their structure and use waterjets for propulsion . Compared to screw drives, the waterjets have the advantage that they have no moving parts in the water. The drive cannot be damaged if it comes into contact with the ground, and it poses no danger to people in the water. The disadvantage of the relatively low efficiency of a waterjet drive must be compensated for by a higher motor power. The boats reach speeds of up to 35 knots .
Closed all-weather boats
To replace the old, slow lifeboats, a new type was designed by the KNZHRM in the 1970s. With a completely new design , high seaworthiness , good maneuverability , shallow draft and high speed should be achieved. The first boat of the Johannes Frederik class was put into service as an all-weather lifeboat in 1988 .
The Johannes Frederik class was originally designed to be able to be put into sea from the beach. But the ship turned out to be too long and too heavy, so that a smaller boat had to be constructed for this purpose, but which should have the same sailing characteristics. The first Valentijn class boat was stationed in Noordwijk aan Zee in 1990 . On the North Sea coast, the boats are stored in a special carrying frame on caterpillars and have to be brought into the water with a caterpillar tractor for use.
The boats of the Johannes Frederik class only had a limited range, as only 4.5 hours of operational time were available. The further development led to the Arie Visser class, which is led by a professional skipper as a special feature. The range of these all-weather boats has been adapted to the monitored sea area of the Netherlands, which extends approx. 250 km (140 nm) into the North Sea, so that the boats can be driven at full power for 16 hours or approx. 500 nautical miles .
In close cooperation with the Damen shipyard and the Delft University of Applied Sciences , the KNRM developed the prototype of a completely new class, which is intended as the successor to the Arie Visser class. The boat name Nh 1816 pays tribute to the main sponsor for the development, the Dutch insurance company Nh1816 Verzekeringen. The new boat has been in IJmuiden since 2014 .
Open lifeboats
For the rescue stations on inland waterways, the KNRM has procured smaller RIB boats in open construction that were developed in Norway . With a crew of four, up to 20 people can be accommodated.
There is a boat of the same size at Den Oever of the Harder 2000 type that was built in the Netherlands. The Johanna Margareta was the prototype of a planned new class of the KNRM, which was developed from the year 2000 and was intended as the successor to the existing Atlantic-21 inflatable boats from the 1970s. However, the new development was too difficult for the purpose, so that no further assignment was made.
Instead of the Harder , the successor types Atlantic-75 were procured and 18 units were integrated into the fleet. They supplement stations with larger boats and are used at the 'smaller' beach rescue stations on the North Sea. Like their predecessors, these 7.50 meter long RIB boats will be procured by the British sea rescue company RNLI ( Royal National Lifeboat Institution ).
Another class is the float class. The light 'floatjes', as they are affectionately known, are 5.10 meters long and are mostly used for exercise purposes.
The KNRM 130 HP jet skis are available for the tasks of the lifeguards on the West Frisian Islands . These are loaded on a special trailer and can be quickly brought to the beach and into the water in an off-road vehicle. To accommodate and rescue swimming people, the small boats carry a plastic mattress on which drowning people can hold on.
Table of boat classes of the KNRM
| closed lifeboats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| class | length | maximum speed |
crew | Number of rescued |
in service since | Number built |
thereof on duty |
reserve |
| Johannes Frederik class | 14.4 m | 34 knots | 4th | 75 | 1988 | 8th | 4th | 2 |
| Valentijn class | 10.6 m | 34 knots | 4th | 50 | 1990 | 18th | 16 | 1 |
| Arie Visser class | 18.8 m | 34 knots | 6th | 120 | 1999 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| NH-1816 class | 19.3 m | 31 knots | 6th | 120 | 2014 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| open lifeboats | ||||||||
| Nikolaas class | 9.3 m | 34 knots | 4th | 20th | 2009 | 16 | 14th | 2 |
| Harder class | 9.0 m | 34 knots | 3 | 20th | 2003 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Atlantic class | 7.5 m | 32 knots | 3 | 15th | 2003 | 18th | 16 | 2 |
| Float class | 5.1 m | 27 knots | 3 | 5 | 1991 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Status: 2018 | ||||||||
The headquarters of the KNRM are located in IJmuiden. The ships of the reserve fleet and ships of the historic units are located there alongside the ready-to-use ships “Nh 1816” and “Koos van Messel”.
Web links
- Official website of the KNRM ( Dutch , English )
- NH 1816 shipyard description (English)
- Habbeké shipyard for SAR boats in Volendam (Dutch)
- Shipyard aluminum boat for SAR boats in Hindeloopen (Dutch)
- Dorus Rijkers Rescue Museum Den Helder (Dutch)