Namibia teams up with neighbours in search and rescue project.

LEONARD NEILL NAMIBIA HAS signed a groundbreaking agreement in maritime search and rescue services with four other SADC countries – South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique and the Comores. It caters for both national and international needs in the coordination of distress messages at sea as well as between sea and shore. Namibia’s Works, Transport and Communications Minister, Joel Kaapanda, signed the agreement on behalf of his government in Walvis Bay in the last week of March. Namport’s two harbours of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz will provide the home base and launching pads for sea rescue operations from the country. The signing of the agreement coincided with the inauguration of the first Namibia Maritime Rescue and Search Coordination Centre (NMRCC) at Telecom Namibia’s technical headquarters in its building in the seaport. The centre is equipped with a state-ofthe- art maritime global distress and safety system (MGDSS). It is part of the five regional NMRCCs designed to assist African countries to put in place an adequate search and rescue infrastructure and, by doing so, boost the International Maritime Organisation’s efforts to implement the Global Search and Rescue Plan, agreed by the IMO conference in Australia in 1998. Until the Walvis Bay gathering, Telecom Namibia has been responsible for the provision of distress communication via its limited maritime radio station in the port, said Frans Ndoroma, managing director Telecom Namibia. The facility is now one of 26 situated in all parts of the continent.