The government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, has today traveled to the port of La Restinga to visit the fast action boat of Salvamento Maritimo that has been incorporated as a reinforcement of the device of the island of El Hierro, the Salvamar Acrux.
During the visit, Anselmo Pestana was accompanied by the Brigadier General of the Civil Guard Area of the Canary Islands, Juan Hernández, by the Lieutenant General Command of Borders and Maritime Police of the Civil Guard, Manuel Navarrete, by the Maritime Captain of Tenerife, José Antonio Conde, and by the Head of the Coordination and Rescue Center of Tenerife, María Dolores Septién.
Salvamento Marítima, a company dependent on the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility through the General Directorate of Merchant Marine, announced the incorporation of this itinerant salvage in El Hierro, in view of the increase in migratory activity in recent months. This boat joins the Salvamar Adhara, based in La Restinga, to attend to emergencies at sea in El Hierro.
With the Acrux Salvage, Salvamento Marítima introduces the figure of “itinerant” salvages, which reinforce the device in the areas with greater activity or when inoperative units occur. With this unit in El Hierro, 8 new crew members have been added to the device (4 per turn), which will strengthen the deployment of Marine Rescue in the islands and facilitate the rest of the crews.
The measure adds to the timely reinforcement of the fleet of salvagers in the Canary Islands, with a total of 6 new workers, which was carried out in September to optimize the services of protection of life at sea against the volume of boats with migrants that is being produced.
Reinforced device in the Canary Islands
The current deployment of means of maritime rescue is greatly strengthened. It already has 11 fast boats of salvamar type, 4 patrol boats of salvamento Guardamar of the 5 that there are for all of Spain, 2 ships, 2 helicopters and 1 aircraft. The complete device in the Canary Islands is as follows:
- 11 salvamar-type rescue boats (3 in Tenerife, 2 in El Hierro, 1 in La Gomera, 1 in La Palma, 2 in Gran Canaria, 1 in Fuerteventura and 1 in Lanzarote).
- 4 Guardamar-type rescue patrols roaming throughout the archipelago.
- 2 helicopters (Las Palmas and Tenerife South).
- 1 fixed-wing aircraft (Las Palmas).
- 2 rescue coordination centers (Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas).
- 2 buques remolcadores itinerantes (Heroínas de Sálvora -Santa Cruz- Miguel de Cervantes -Las Palmas-).
- 1 base of rescue and pollution control equipment (Tenerife).