Marine Search and Rescue

Keeping Victorians safe on and around the water.

Volunteer with MSAR

If you are over the age of 16 and interested in becoming a Marine Search and Rescue Volunteer, find out how to join our community of over 900 volunteers statewide.

Find out more

About us

Marine Search and Rescue (MSAR) units across the state play an extremely important role in the safety of boaters around Victoria’s coastline, out at sea and in many of our inland waterways.

MSAR rescue crews are made up entirely of dedicated volunteers, who are trained to operate vessels to the National Commercial Vessel standards. These standards are governed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

Units are called upon to:

locate and provide emergency assistance to sinking vessels, vessels with flat batteries and other mechanical problems, or vessels that have run aground
respond in search of missing persons on the water and rescue those in trouble in marine environments, and
perform medical evacuation responses in some emergency cases.

Some units fall under parent organisations such as the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard, Life Saving Victoria, or the State Emergency Service (SES) while several independent units are stand-alone organisations.

MSAR respond to more than 1,000 marine incidents each year and is made up of:

more than 900 volunteers
16 Australia Volunteer Coast Guard flotillas
7 Independent MSAR units
2 Life Saving Victoria clubs
1 State Emergency Service unit
48 marine response vessels from small runabouts to large offshore vessels
26 marine response locations.

Most MSAR units are concentrated within Port Phillip Bay and along Victoria’s Coastline at key boating locations. One inland MSAR unit operates in Victoria, Lake Hume Coast Guard.

Image shows a boat on the water, with a lighthouse in the background

Our aim

Keeping Victorians safe on and around the water: A marine search and rescue response service that goes beyond the call for help to support community.

What we offer

The range of services we offer includes:

marine search and rescue
marine radio monitoring
public education (including marine license, marine radio license and coast navigation)
volunteer development
involvement in community events
memorial services.

Where we are

Use the navigation below to visit our locations page and find out more about our MSAR units across the state.

Marine Search and Rescue Unit Locations Map