The Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue (Norwegian: Redningsselskapet or Norsk Selskab til Skibbrudnes Redning) was founded on 9 July 1891. The purpose of the organisation is to save lives and property at sea.

Overview

The first rescue boat went into service in 1893, and in 1894 the Colin Archer

Colin Archer

Colin Archer was a Norwegian naval architect and shipbuilder from Larvik, Norway. His parents emigrated from Scotland to Norway in 1825....

saved 37 lives in a storm off the coast of Finnmark

Finnmark

or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

.

Today, there are 43 vessels continuously manned and on standby along the coast of Norway. The society has about 6000 engagements every year.

13 of the 43 boats are operated by volunteers, two of these volunteer boats are based on Norway's two biggest lakes: Mjøsa

Mjøsa

Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe as a whole, after Hornindalsvatnet. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about 100 km north of Oslo...

 and Femunden. The rest of the boats are manned by a professional crew who live and work onboard on a 28 day rotation.

The society's official mascot is Elias the Little Rescue Boat, who is the main character of an animated series shown on national television. Elias is used by local chapters of the society to teach children about safety at sea. Affiliated merchandise and children's clubs are also promoted. Elias has been nominated as one of the best children's TV series in the Emmy Awards.

See also

• Royal National Lifeboat Institution
  Royal National Lifeboat Institution
  The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
  
  
• Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij
  Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij
  The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution is the voluntary organization in the Netherlands tasked with saving lives at sea. For that purpose, it maintains 39 lifeboat stations along the Dutch coast of the North Sea and Wadden Sea and on the IJsselmeer...
  
  
• Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer
  Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer
  The Société Nationale de Sauvetage en Mer is a French voluntary organisation founded in 1967 by merging the Société Centrale de Sauvetage des Naufragés and the Hospitaliers Sauveteurs Bretons...
  
  
• Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger
  Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger
  The Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger or DGzRS is responsible for Search and Rescue in German territorial waters in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, including the Exclusive Economic Zone.The headquarters and...
  
  

External links

• Redningsselskapet - Official web page (in Norwegian)