THE International Maritime Organization has launched its second polar video, with a focus on the challenges of search and rescue operations in polar regions.

The video looks at how the current lack of marine infrastructure, coupled with the vastness and harshness of the environment, makes emergency response significantly more difficult in the Arctic and Antarctica.

It explores the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue adopted in 1979. Under the SAR Convention, individual countries are responsible for specified search and rescue regions, together forming the Global Search and Rescue Plan. A network of rescue co-ordination centres and sub-centres has been established and, together, they cover all the world’s oceans.

The video also features an exclusive interview with Commander Rodrigo Lepe, former chief of the Chilean Navy base at Bahia Fildes on King George Island in Antarctica. The interview highlights the unique challenges he and his team face to ensure sound search and rescue practices in such a remote and inhospitable area.