National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Station 7 East London branch is celebrating 54 years of service, this month. The celebration included the 50th anniversary celebration that was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Station 7 was opened on the banks of the Buffalo River on August 2 1974, and the base building was named after Captain George Walker, East London’s harbour master from 1851 to 1876.
For 25 years, he managed the port and was always prepared to assist others at great personal risk.
The station has 32 volunteers, consisting of operational sea crew, shore crew and trainees. They are also rescue swimmers, training officers, and lifeguards.
Station commander Cathrine Prentis said the East London branch had been instrumental and played a vital role in sea rescue missions.
“In its 54 years of operation, Station 7 has responded to many different types of emergencies; rescuing people in danger of drowning at various beaches, rivers and dams, doing medical evacuations of injured sailors from ships, assisting/rescuing crew from ski boats, yachts and surfskis, as well as assisting or rescuing various marine, wild and domestic animals in distress,” Prentis said.
Andrew Ingram, from the communications team, shed some light on why Station 7 is still working smoothly after all these years.
“The model of training unpaid volunteers to respond to emergencies at sea is still in place. The unpaid volunteer model for crews is one of the reasons our organisation is so effective, but it is also one of our greatest challenges. Finding people who will fit into the rescue station and who are prepared to put the hours in to be trained and be ready to respond at all hours of the day and night, is challenging. However, once suitable people have been found and trained, we have motivated rescue crews, ready to respond to emergencies,” he said.
NSRI Station 7 hosted a special dinner at the Osner Hotel, which was attended by world renowned sailor, Kirsten Neuschäfer, and NSRI CEO, Dr Cleeve Robertson, who both shared inspiring words of encouragement.
Station 7 East London will hold their next recruitment drive at the end of August. If you are interested in joining ST 7 as an unpaid volunteer (sea or shore crew) email Cathrine Prentis at station7@searescue.org.za, to find out more about what it takes to become an NSRI volunteer.
 Station 7 East London branch is celebrating 54 years of service, this month.){kind=link}