The Swedish Sea Rescue Society ( sv, Sjöräddningssällskapet, SSRS), formally the Swedish Society for the Saving of Shipwrecked Persons ( sv, Svenska Sällskapet för Räddning af Skeppsbrutne) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

voluntary organisation that works with maritime

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

on Swedish lakes and seas. The society runs 70 lifeboat stations, with over 200 rescue vessels and over 2100 volunteers. Of these, more than 300 are on call at any given moment, and can respond to an emergency call within 15 minutes. It is a member of the

International Maritime Rescue Federation The International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF) is a global organisation that unites and represents the world's operational marine rescue services, whether civilian or military—full-time or voluntary—large or small. All member organisations ...

(IMRF) The society was founded in 1907 at the Hotel Rydberg in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. The organisation is completely

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, and receives no government funding but is instead funded entirely by donations and membership fees. SSRS carries out more than 70% of all emergency calls in Sweden and its territorial waters. Under an agreement with the

Swedish Maritime Administration The Swedish Maritime Administration ( sv, Sjöfartsverket) is the government agency in Sweden which provides services to the transport sector by keeping the sea lanes open and safe. The agency is to a certain degree financed through fees levied o ...

the purpose of the society is: *to maintain an interest in maritime search and rescue *to suggest measures to improve service in this area *to manage individual search and rescue operations within Swedish waters The society also provides technical advice in areas where there may not be an immediate danger. Between 1982 and 1991 the society produced its own coins, with a face value of 25

Swedish kronor The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it b ...

. Since 2001 money has been received from the Swedish Postcode Lottery, which in 2009 totalled 21.5 million Swedish crowns.

The fleet of SSRS

* 3 fast 20 metre rescue cruisers of the Rausing class *1 fast 15 metre rescue cruiser of the Hallberg Rassy class *1 fast 14 metre rescue cruiser of the Sanne class * 36 fast 12 metre rescue cruisers of the Victoria class * 9 fast 11 metre rescue vessels of the PostCode lottery class * 49 fast 8 metre open rescue vessels of the Gunnel Larsson class * 5 fast rescue vessel of the Escort class * 48 Rescue runners. (Jetski modified for rescue operations) * 13 large, covered hovercraft * 4 small, open hovercraft * Close to 50 ribs and MOB boats * 26 environment salvage trailers. The Society previous had 3

Finnish-Swedish ice class Finnish-Swedish ice class is an ice class assigned to a vessel operating in first-year ice in the Baltic Sea and calling at Finnish or Swedish ports. Ships are divided into six ice classes based on requirements for hull structural design, engine ...

cruisers, '' MV Astra'', '' Rescue Dan Borström'' and ''Rescue Erik Collin''. However, the vessels were discontinued in 2017/2018 and sold to private ownership. In 2020 the ''Astra'' was purchased by the

Witherby Publishing Group Witherby Publishing Group, formerly known as Witherby Seamanship, is a technical publisher of maritime, nautical and navigation training, reference and regulatory materials. The company is the resulting merger of Witherby Books and Seamansh ...

. The ship undertook conversion work in 2021 to provide research opportunities for Witherbys, including the completion of a 22,000 nautical mile

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the world in 2022.

Similar organisations of other nations

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 ...

– British Isles equivalent *

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) is a volunteer marine rescue service that saves lives and promotes public recreational boating safety throughout the coastal and some inland waters of the province of British Columbia and is associ ...

– Canadian West Coast equivalent *

Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (Dutch: ''Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij'', abbreviated: ''KNRM'') is the voluntary organization in the Netherlands tasked with saving lives at sea. For that purpose, it maintains 45 lif ...

– Dutch equivalent *

Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer The Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer (SNSM) is a French voluntary organisation founded in 1967 by merging the Société Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufragés (founded in 1865) and the Hospitaliers Sauveteurs Bretons (1873). Its task is s ...

– French equivalent *

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 ...

– German equivalent *

Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (Redningsselskapet in Norwegian, commonly shortened to RS) is the only organization wholly dedicated to assisting people and vessels at sea along the extensive Norwegian coastline. Overview Norwegian Society f ...

– Norwegian equivalent *

National Sea Rescue Institute 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. Ther ...

– South African equivalent

References

External links

International Maritime Rescue FederationSSRS Home page
{{Authority control Sea rescue organizations Non-profit organizations based in Sweden