The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''

Koninklijk or (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Ki ...

e Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij'', abbreviated: ''KNRM'') is the voluntary organization in the Netherlands tasked with saving lives at sea. For that purpose, it maintains 45

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

stations along the Dutch coast of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

and on the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed off inland bay in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with an a ...

. It maintains 78 boats ranging from small boat to 21 meter long RHIBs. It also provides lifeguard services at some beaches on the Frisian Islands in the Waddensea, and the beach of Wassenaar. Its headquarters have been in IJmuiden since 1996. The KNRM was created May 22, 1991 by merging the Koninklijke Noord- en Zuid-Hollandsche Redding-Maatschappij (founded November 11, 1824), called the ''Noord'' (North), and the Koninklijke Zuid-Hollandsche Maatschappij tot Redding van Schipbreukelingen (founded November 20, 1824), called the ''Zuid'' (South). Between 1824 and 2006, they answered 36358 distress calls and saved 79887 people out of distress situations. Yearly they have about 1700 distress calls with about 3500 people saved (2008). The KNRM also operates the Dutch Radio Medical Service (a task taken over from the

Netherlands Red Cross The Netherlands Red Cross ( nl, Rode Kruis) was founded in 1867. It is among the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It adopts branch governance structure which leads to approximately 214 branches that enables it to serve the whole country. It ...

on January 1, 1999) and provides medical advice by radio to about 900 ships each year. Like the comparable

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

, which operates in the UK and Ireland, and the

German Maritime Search and Rescue Service The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger - DGzRS, ; lit. ''German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons'') is responsible for Search and Rescue in German territorial waters ...

, the KNRM is entirely financed by private donations.

Famous lifeboat-saviors

* Henry Freeman *

Dorus Rijkers Theodorus "Dorus" Rijkers (27 January 1847 – 19 April 1928) was a famous Dutch lifeboat captain and folk hero, most famous for his sea rescues of 487 shipwrecked victims over a total of 38 rescue operations, and at least 25 before joining the ...

Grace Darling Grace Horsley Darling (24 November 1815 – 20 October 1842) was an English lighthouse keeper's daughter. Her participation in the rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked ''Forfarshire'' in 1838 brought her national fame. The paddlesteamer ...

Henry Blogg Henry George Blogg"Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, GC BEM (6 February 1876 – 13 June 1954) was a lifeboatman from Cromer on the north coast of Norfolk, England, and the ...

Famous rescues

Rescue of the Renown ''Renown'' was a barque used as a sailing cargo ship built in 1842 by R. & H. Green in Blackwall, London. She survived a cyclone at Calcutta in 1864, and was sold to German owners in 1882. In 1887 or 1888 she foundered off Den Helder on the Dut ...

External links

Official site (Dutch)

Official site (English)

Locations Lifeboat Stations KNRM in Google Earth
{{Authority control Sea rescue organizations Transport in the Netherlands Organisations based in North Holland Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage Velsen 1991 establishments in the Netherlands Organizations established in 1991

Famous lifeboat-saviors

Famous rescues

See also

External links