German Maritime Search and Rescue Service

The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger - 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 the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of the Society are located in Bremen. It was founded in Kiel on 29 May 1865. It owns 61 lifeboats at 54 stations, 185 employed crew members and 800 volunteers. The Society has about 2000 engagements every year. Up to 2005, it rescued approximately 72,000 persons. In 2004 it saved 368 lives, rescued 837 persons from critical situations and carried out 343 medical transports. The DGzRS is entirely financed by membership fees, private donations and legacies.

Writer and honorary member Nikolai von Michalewsky has immortalized the DGzRS in his series of science fiction novels by taking it as the model for his "Independent Society for Saving Spacewrecked".

Fleet
The DGzRS operates 61 vessels on 54 stations in the North Sea and Baltic. 20 of which are seagoing cruisers between 20 m and 46 m of length and 41 vessels are classified as inshore lifeboats. A feature of the cruisers is that all but the 20-m class carry a fully equipped small lifeboat on deck which can quickly be released through a gate in the aft for conducting operations in shallow waters. This principle was developed by DGzRS in the 1950s. The 20-m class uses a rigid-hulled inflatable boat instead.