whether the ship is able or unable to provide assistance is up to the
          master’s professional judgement, who is bound to ensure the safety of his
          ship. According SOLAS Article IV (b) “persons who are on board a ship […]
          in consequence of the obligation laid upon the master to carry shipwrecked
          or other persons shall not be taken into account for the purpose of
          ascertaining the application to a ship of any provisions of the present
          convention”. Consequently, there are no specific requirements for safety /
          pollution prevention or training for carrying out private SAR operations in
          our legislation.


        c) Would you see an added value of such an approach being replicated in
        your country?

        Additional guidance that assists NGOs, flag states and coastal states in
        caring for safety of life at sea and this includes safety, pollution prevention
        and training as well as the cooperation between private vessels carrying out
        SAR operations based on private initiative and local regular SAR services,
        could improve the current safety level and efficiency in distress cases.


III. Other:

7. Does your Member State have privately owned or operated rescue Units
within the meaning of the Hamburg Convention? If so, please describe the
exact details of the arrangement and list the specific conditions, as well as
describe the modalities under which these organizations are registered and
permitted to carry out their activities.

Yes. The DGzRS (= German Maritime Search and Rescue Service) is responsible for
the maritime search and rescue service in the German search and rescue region of
the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. In 1982, the Federal Ministry of Transport (now
Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport) commissioned the DGzRS to do so. To
fulfil its tasks, the DGzRS maintains one MRCC which includes a coastal radio
station. Further it keeps 60 rescue vessels and boats at 55 stations along the
coastline and on the German isles. Its services are in compliance with all national
and international conventions, regulations, standards and recommended procedures.
The charity DGzRS is a legal entity by governmental accreditation. The DGzRS is
financed completely by donations. It is subject to technical supervision by the Federal
Ministry for Digital and Transport

The DGzRS fleet is thus integrated into the national safety and rescue concept. The
sea rescue cruisers of the DGzRS are state-of-the-art special designs and are
especially developed for rescue missions under difficult sea conditions. They have an
extraordinarily high seaworthiness and are able to straighten themselves. Due to their
state mandate, the DGzRS ships are exempted from the regulations of the National
Ship Safety Act and Ship Safety Ordinance. They are not subject to registration.

Germany would like to emphasize that the ships of the DGzRS are not comparable to
other vessels flying the German flag, which are operated without a government
mandate and which conduct search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea

purely based on private initiative. However, if discussions within Work Strand 3 show
that a European set of rules/recommendations may seem useful for the latter group,
this should not be applied for ships carrying out search and rescue services on
governmental behalf. For rescue units acting under governmental mandate, there is
no need for them to be regulated.

8. In your view, are there any aspects or gaps in existing legislation that should
be looked at to make sure that private vessels could carry out SAR as their
predominant activity in a safe and orderly manner? If yes, provide details.

Currently, operational aspects for private vessels carrying out SAR operations are
only covered by the regulations on safety management. More detailed provisions or
guidance taking into account the specific operation, especially when persons rescued
from distress situations are carried on board, could increase the safety level.

9. Would you consider that there is a need for any further (e.g. safety)
requirements to be applied to these vessels that would enable effective and
proportionate type of inspections, when necessary?

Most of the vessels are flying EU flags, but there are different requirements and
certification processes. In our view it could be beneficial to develop an EU guidance
to the flag states to ensure such vessels provide an appropriate safety level and be
accepted by port States and coastal States.

10. Beyond this questionnaire, and in a medium-term, would you see any
specific and related topics for a dedicated (comparative and/or analytical)
study?
If there is support for a harmonized approach within the EU, a study could analyse
the actual hazards related to the specific operational profile of such ships (e.g.
following the IMO formal safety approach) to identify suitable risk control options that
could serve as the basis for an EU guidance on vessels carrying out SAR operations
based on private initiative and without governmental mandate.