...this was published on the NRC-newspaper website, the Dutch equivalent of the Telegraph, UK.....
https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/08/01...eland-a4171057
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https://www-nrc-nl.translate.goog/ni..._x_tr_pto=wapp
Rescue with helicopters took a long time: from Den Helder via Rotterdam to the cargo ship above AmelandFremantle Highway fire
After the fire in the North Sea, the Coast Guard helicopters left later than agreed.Doubts have existed for some time about the quality of the service provided by the rescue helicopters.
Andreas Kouwenhoven Karel SmouterAugust 1, 2023 at 10:35 PM
Reading time 3 minutes
wo Coast Guard helicopters involved in the rescue operation on the ship Fremantle Highway, at The Hague Airport.
Two Coast Guard helicopters involved in the rescue operation on the ship Fremantle Highway, at The Hague Airport.
Photo Marco van der Caaij/ANP/Mediatv
During the fire on the Fremantle Highway, which broke out late Tuesday evening last week,
it took more than twice as long as the agreed twenty minutes for the two Coast Guard rescue helicopters to be airborne.
The flight time was further extended due to the limited number of seats on board.
There was not enough room to take a fire team in one aircraft.
That is why a helicopter stationed in Den Helder had to detour via Rotterdam, instead of going directly to the crash site.
This is evident from flight data from the helicopters and conversations with aid workers and pilots.
After the helicopter requested by the captain did not arrive soon, part of the crew was forced to jump overboard.
The ship was carrying thousands of cars, several of which caught fire in the course of the evening.
From there, the fire spread further.One of the crew members was killed, others were injured.
With the exception of the captain and the pilot, the other twenty crew members have since been released from hospital.
Rescue helicopters of the Dutch coast guard often do not respond quickly enough to emergency calls.
Since November 2022, the Coast Guard has rented helicopters from the British-American company Bristow, which also provides the crew.
Responsible minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure, VVD) was already warned during the tendering process that the company would not be able to fulfill the promises,
but then stated that the "international company, with years of experience"
would even achieve a response time of ten minutes.
From Den Helder via Rotterdam to the ship above Ameland.
Too few chairs
Not so with the fire on the Fremantle Highway, on the night of July 25-26.
According to data from the Flight Radar 24 site, which monitors air traffic, the helicopters only took off 40 minutes (Den Helder) and 49 minutes (Midden Zeeland) after the first report.
Why that took longer than promised is not clear.
Instead of flying to the scene of the accident, both helicopters first went to Rotterdam to pick up a specialist fire brigade team.
The emergency workers and airmen involved say that this extra flight movement was necessary because only four seats per helicopter were available for the firefighters,
while the firefighting team is larger.
During the tender, Bristow promised that more seats would be available,
but according to those involved, these were not available.
According to one insider, “a stamp was missing.”
Promises
It went wrong before.
Two weeks before the fire on the freighter, an employee on a platform in the North Sea had to go ashore urgently because of appendicitis.
This employee had to wait a long time for help, according to internal correspondence about the incident.
The northern helicopter, in Den Helder, did not have the required papers at that time.
When the reserve helicopter proved unavailable,
he Confederate helicopter /Zuidelijke / Southern/ Zeelandse Bristow helicopter was called in.
It took at least twice as long to travel from Arnemuiden to the oil rig.
Moreover, that helicopter was only in the air for almost an hour after the report – instead of the required twenty minutes.
The company also fails to keep other promises that Bristow made during the tender.
For example, according to flight data, the promised reserve helicopter is not always in the Netherlands.
It is regularly located in the United Kingdom, where Bristow has a branch.
At the southern base, at Central Zeeland Airport, according to Flight Radar data,
sometimes no helicopter was available for days.
This can have consequences if an emergency occurs in that area.
In May this year, for example, there was no helicopter present at that base, when a diver died in an accident in Lake Grevelingen in Zeeland.
A helicopter from Nijmegen had to fly in. (Dutch HEMS trauma helicopter H135...)
Training courses are also regularly canceled because the helicopters are not available, say pilots and aid workers with whom NRC spoke.
According to international treaties, the Netherlands is obliged to provide search and rescue (SAR) on the water.
The fact that Minister Harbers had been warned in advance about these problems
is apparent from internal documents that were previously released under the Open Government Act (Woo).
The Rotterdam security region sent a letter to the management of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management on 1 June 2022,
stating that the transition to Bristow would lead to longer flight times,
the lack of a reserve helicopter and a lack of training.
Harbers then went to the Department of Defense, which had selected Bristow,
but dismissed all concerns.
In the end, Harbers assured the House of Representatives in a letter that everything would be fine.
Outgoing minister Harbers says that monitoring compliance
with the contract is "now primarily the responsibility of the coastguard".
Bristow also refers by email to “our customer, Netherlands Coast Guard”.
The Coast Guard itself refers to Defense.
And the Ministry of Defense says after a day and a half that it will not respond to any question from NRC.
The questions about the too long flight times, the lack of capacity and training and the lack of reserve helicopters
fall under "operational information", says a Defense spokesperson.
"And we just don't make any statements about that."
SAFETY REQUIREMENTS NO ENFORCEMENT
There have been concerns about the quality of Bristow's services for some time.
Earlier this year it became clear that Minister Harbers had decided not to enforce some safety requirements that Bristow did not meet.
The ministry was reprimanded for this by the European aviation authority EASA.
The Dutch Association of Traffic Pilots finds it "worrying" that the helicopters do not have to comply with some rules.