Around Christmas, there are small Christmas trees here and there on board the search and rescue vessels, or they are shaken by winter storms on the mast.

As on every other day of the year, the sea rescuers are also on duty at Christmas when they receive a “Mayday” call—the international distress call for a life-threatening situation in aviation or maritime navigation. Because global trade knows no holidays.

Today, the maritime search and rescue service has 1,000 active members, most of whom are volunteers. At 53 stations between Ueckermünde on the Baltic Sea and the North Sea island of Borkum, they are always ready to rescue people in distress at sea.

In 2024 alone, they helped almost 3,000 people in 1,775 missions. Many of them were rescued directly from distress at sea or freed from imminent danger at sea. The DGzRS was founded in 1865. Since then, the statistics show more than 87,300 people rescued from distress at sea or freed from danger. In total, the sea rescuers have provided assistance to many thousands more.

The heart of the maritime search and rescue service is the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Bremen, Germany's maritime rescue coordination center. This is where all emergency calls and reports are received. There is close cooperation with other rescue coordination centers, especially with the Navy's SAR coordination center in Glücksburg. SAR stands for “search and rescue.” Of course, there is also intensive cooperation with the control centers of the land rescue services of the fire department and police.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center is staffed around the clock with four employees. This always includes an emergency paramedic from Johanniter at the medical workstation. This is where medical advice is provided during rescue operations or medical emergency measures in offshore wind farms. For them, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre is also the central emergency control centre.

In return, the DGzRS receives financial compensation from the wind farm operators, as emergency management is not one of the statutory tasks of the maritime search and rescue service . This is its only fixed source of income. By contrast, the DGzRS finances all of its statutory work solely through voluntary contributions – without any state or public funds – and does not claim any tax money.

The MRCC is not only responsible for acute emergencies in the vicinity. It is also the point of contact for German shipping on all the world's oceans, establishing contact with the relevant authorities in the sea area in the event of problems on the high seas. It also provides medical advice via radio.

Technically, the DGzRS Maritime Rescue Coordination Center is equipped in the same way as land-based rescue coordination centers. In addition, it has special systems for maritime radio. In coastal areas, VHF and border wave radio frequencies are primarily used for maritime communication. Shortwave and satellite communication are used for the high seas.

DGzRS donation account

Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger
Sparkasse Bremen
IBAN: DE36 2905 0101 0001 0720 16
BIC: SBREDE22

DGzRS at INTERSCHUTZ

At INTERSCHUTZ 2026, the sea rescuers will once again have their own booth in Hall 17, where they will provide information about their work.

Civil Protection @ INTERSCHUTZ