245 lives were saved by the Fiji Navy’s search and rescue missions in 2020.

245 lives were saved by the Fiji Navy’s search and rescue missions in 2020.

Commander Captain Humphrey Tawake says the majority of these cases are due to sheer negligence during bad weather.

Tawake says people continue to disregard advisories from relevant authorities, and this was evident during Tropical Cyclone Ana.

“Our search and rescue area includes Kiribati and Tuvalu. So we do all the Rescue Coordination as well for them so from the cases – about 65 – we were able to save 245 lives. That’s 245 that we could have lost if we did not coordinate those search and rescue operations.”

The Commander says when people are found floating out at sea, many require psychosocial support.

“One thing that is evident across all situations that we’ve encountered is the trauma and the mental stress they encounter. They’re weak and sometimes unable to speak.”

The Fiji Navy will continue to conduct search and rescue missions when the need arises especially during severe weather.