THE HISTORY OF COASTAL LIFESAVING

1925 Chile. Cuerpo de Voluntarios de la Botes Salvavidas De Valparaiso (CVBS) established.1926 Germany. DGzRS begins to use diesel engines in its MLBs.1928 France. 2nd ILC held in Paris.1929 Great Britain. RNLI launches its first high-speed rescue launch, the Sir William Hillary.1932 Holland. 3rd ILC held in Amsterdam.1936 Greece. Forerunner of Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) established.1936 Sweden. 4thILC held in Gothenburg.1937 Australia. Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol (RVCP) established.1938 USA. United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA) established.1940 Great Britain. RNLI lifeboats used to help in evacuation of troops from Dunkirk.1940 Holland. Dutch MLB Zeemanshoop evacuates 40 Jewish refugees to England.1944 USA. First humanitarian missions conducted using a helicopter.1945 USA. First rescue at sea using a helicopter and hoist. Penfield Reef, New York.1947 Norway. 5th ILC held in Oslo.1948 Japan. Japanese Maritime Safety Board, forerunner of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) established.1949 Norway. NSSR launches first non-sailing cruising lifeboat, the J M Johansen.1949 Switzerland. The Geneva Convention provides for the neutrality of all lifeboats during times of war and allows such vessels to exhibit the Red Cross.1951 Belgium. 6th ILC held in Ostend.1950 Poland. Polish Ship Salvage Company established.1953 Great Britain. First peacetime SAR helicopter squadron established.1955 Portugal. 7th ILC held in Estoril.1956 Uruguay. Asociacion Honoraria de Salvamentos Maritimos Y Fluviales (ADES) established.1957 Germany. DGzRS launches first ‘rescue cruiser,’ the Theodore Heuss.1958 Great Britain. RNLI launches first Oakley type self-righting MLB.1958 United States. Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER) established.1959 Germany. 8th ILC held in Bremen.1961 Australia. Australian Volunteer Coastguard Association (AVCG) established.1962 Canada. Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) established.1963 Great Britain. 9th ILC held in Edinburgh. Both the USCG 44ft MLB and the HSB’s inflatable IRB are introduced.1963 Bahamas. Bahamas Air-Sea Rescue (BASRA) established.1965 Åland Islands. Åland Sea Rescue Society (ASRS) established.1965 Great Britain. First experiments with rigid hull inflatables (RHIs) being conducted at Atlantic College in Wales.1967 France. 10th ILC held in Dinard.1967 South Africa. National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) established.1968 France. The Societe Nationale de Sauvetage En Mer (SNSM) established.1969 Great Britain. RNLI launches first Atlantic 21 RHI.1970 New Zealand. SLI begins experiments with high-speed water-jet propelled IRBs.1971 USA. 11th ILC held in New York.1971 Estonia. Estonian Lifesaving Service established.
1971 Great Britain. First Arun Class FAB, 52-01, launched by RNLI.1975 Finland. 12th ILC held in Helsinki.1975 USA. Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) established.1976 New Zealand. New Zealand Coast Guard Federation (now Royal NZCGF) established.1978 Canada. Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary, forerunner of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA) established.1979 Holland. 13th ILC held in Amsterdam/Rotterdam.1979 Great Britain. First large Medina type RHI launched by the RNLI.1983 British Virgin Islands. Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR) established.1982 Canada. First SAR ‘case’ handled by COSPAS-SARSAT system.1984 Sweden. 14th ILC held in Gothenburg.1985 Holland. KZHRM launches RHI Koningen Beatrix, predecessor of today’s large Dutch 
RHIs.1987 Spain. 15th ILC held in La Corüna.1991 Namibia. Sea Rescue Institute of Namibia (SRIN).1990 USA. USCG launches first 47ft MLB prototype, MLB 47-200.1992 Norway. 16th ILC held in Oslo/Baerum.1991 Holland. The KZHRM and the KNZHRM amalgamate to form the KNRM.1995 Uruguay. 17th ILC held in Montevideo.1999 Iceland. ICESAR, a new combined (land and sea) lifesaving organisation formed.1999 Great Britain. 18th ILC held in Bournemouth/Poole. 175th anniversary of RNLIand the Dutch lifeboat societies.2003 South Africa. 19th ILC held in Cape Town.