Maritime Search and Rescue in the Russian Part of the Gulf of Finland

Abstract

Presently, search and rescue (SAR) operations in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland are handled by the Border Guards, the Ministry of Emergency and the Small Boat Inspection of St. Petersburg and Leningrad. Voluntary search and rescue organizations are a recent phenomenon in Russia; they are under active development.

There is a desire to organize SAR services based on risks, making the best use of the limited available resources. In particular, decision makers are interested to know how many search and rescue units of which types are needed in which locations.

This thesis presents an exploratory study of resource allocation possibilities in the Russian SAR region of the Gulf of Finland. Different possibilities of setting up voluntary rescue organizations are studied by using simulation.

The results indicate that Kronshtadskly and Suursaari are likely to be good locations to establish voluntary SAR base stations. Due to lack of reliable data in the Russian SAR region, little can be said about the required vessel types or their number. The study however indicates that an approach using system simulation can provide good decision support, if such data becomes available.