NSRI

About NSRI

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is a voluntary non-profit organization in South Africa tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention. It operates 41 bases (as of 2020) comprising coastal stations and inland stations on dams. There are crews on standby at all hours. There are over 1000 volunteers equipped with sponsored rescue craft, rescue vehicles, quad bikes and tractors, supported by an operations department at the head office. Sea Rescue is a charity staffed by volunteers who are on call, day and night throughout the year. They have rescue bases along the coast and on inland dams. Their goal is to prevent drowning through education, through preventative measures and through rescue.

History

Following an incident at Stilbaai near Mossel Bay on the south coast of South Africa in 1966, in which 17 fishermen drowned after three fishing boats sank in a storm, Miss Pattie Price of Simon’s Town whose own life had been saved by a RNLI lifeboat in the English Channel, wrote a series of letters to the newspapers to advocate for the formation of a sea rescue organisation in South Africa.

Captain Bob Deacon and Ray Lant were the first volunteers to respond to this call and in 1967 the South African Inshore Rescue Service (SAISRS) was started, with a 4.7m inflatable boat donated by the Society of Master Mariners. The SAISRS was later renamed to National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and continues the tradition of operation by volunteers.