SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 8th October (EUROPA PRESS) –
Salvamento Marítimo, a company operating under the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility through the General Directorate of Merchant Marine, is set to incorporate an additional rescue vessel in El Hierro, with its arrival anticipated before the year concludes.
This ship will join the Salvamar Adhara, stationed in La Restinga, which addresses maritime emergencies in El Hierro, primarily concerning immigration issues observed in recent months.
With this addition, Maritime Rescue will introduce the concept of ‘itinerant’ rescuers, aimed at strengthening operations in areas of heightened activity or when existing units become inoperative.
The new unit will see the addition of eight fresh crew members in El Hierro (four per shift), who will bolster the Maritime Rescue efforts across the islands.
This initiative complements the specific enhancement of the rescue fleet in the Canary Islands, which involved a total of six personnel in September, aimed at optimising maritime safety services considering the influx of migrant boats.
This enhancement resulted in the addition of one crew member to the three Canary Islands’ salvage vessels that lacked this reinforcement, thereby preventing overburdening in the most active areas.
The current Maritime Rescue deployment in the Canary Islands, to which the new unit will be added, is composed of the following: two Rescue Coordination Centres (Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas); two helicopters (Las Palmas and Tenerife South); a fixed-wing aircraft (Las Palmas); two itinerant tugboats (Heroínas de Sálvora -Santa Cruz- Miguel de Cervantes -Las Palmas-); ten salvamar-type rescue vessels (three in Tenerife, one in El Hierro, one in La Gomera, one in La Palma, two in Gran Canaria, one in Fuerteventura and one in Lanzarote); four sea guard-type rescue patrol boats (one in El Hierro, one in Gran Canaria, and two in Lanzarote), alongside a base for rescue and anti-pollution equipment (Tenerife).
