Members of the U.S. Consulate General Curaçao attended a ceremony on March 23rd, 2015
to commemorate the graduation of Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard watchstanders who have
completed training on a newly installed search and rescue system. The system, known as
“SAROPS” was purchased by the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard from the United States Coast
Guard and installed at the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) located on Parera Naval Base
in Curacao. The new system will be used by the RCC to conduct search and rescue
throughout more than 300,000 square kilometers of the Southern Caribbean.
SAROPS, or Search and Rescue Optimal Planning System, is a comprehensive search and
rescue planning system developed by the United States Coast Guard for the planning and
execution of almost all SAR cases in and around the United States, major portions of the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Caribbean. Built into the system is the ability to access
global and regional wind and current data sets making SAROPS the most comprehensive and
powerful tool available for maritime SAR planners.
A team comprised of Search and Rescue experts from the United States Coast Guard
Headquarters in Washington D.C. and SAROPS technicians from the Command, Control &
Communications Engineering Center in Portsmouth, Virginia have traveled to Curacao, to
install SAROPS and provide training in its use. Senior SAR expert, Rich Schaefer is leading
the U.S. Coast Guard team. “SAROPS will greatly improve the modeling and search and
rescue tools available to the watchstanders in the RCC and will result in more effective and
efficient search efforts by the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard” said Mr. Schaefer. “Our team
has been very impressed with the knowledge and professionalism of the watchstanders”.
Commodore Hans Lodder, Director Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard says: “It goes without
saying that saving people or ships in distress is one of our most important tasks. Now with
SAROPS, I believe that the RCC is better prepared and equipped for Search and Rescue.
Although it’s important to have proper tools, the real quality in the end is determined by the
personnel”.
Consul General Moore was at a conference in Washington D.C. and unable to attend
Monday’s ceremony, but he had this to say about the coordination between the Dutch
Caribbean and the U.S. Coast Guards: “Many people are aware of the tireless coordination
between our Coast Guards to interdict drugs, so I believe it is important to raise awareness of the many other ways in which we work together. This coordination will save lives of mariners
in distress. What could be nobler than that”?
To accommodate the RCC’s active schedule, the training is being provided in three sessions.
RCC is the 5th foreign national SAR authority to obtain SAROPS. Other national
administrations using SAROPS include: Malta, Mexico, Vietnam and Lebanon.
