Marine Rescue Commissioner Stacey Tannos will visit Ulladulla this morning to inspect the gutted Marine Rescue Ulladulla base and meet the unit’s volunteer members.
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The unit’s headquarters, on Ulladulla Harbour, was destroyed by fire in the early hours of Sunday, October 6, leaving the volunteers without an operating base.
The unit’s marine radio service is currently operating from the Ulladulla Game Fishing Club.
Commissioner Tannos will meet Ulladulla Unit Commander Ken Lambert, Illawarra Regional Controller Bruce Mitchell and MRNSW Illawarra Regional Director and former Ulladulla Unit Commander Doug Musker at the unit site at 10am Wednesday, followed by a meeting with members at 12.30pm.
Commissioner Tannos said MRNSW was working with local and State Government agencies to identify potential temporary accommodation for the unit’s 104 members.
“The Ulladulla base was a facility of which the unit was rightly proud," he said. "The members have worked hard over a long time to upgrade their premises.
“The new $132,000 training room, which was funded from volunteers’ fundraising activities and grants, only opened in May and more work was planned.
“It’s a real blow to see all that hard work destroyed so quickly. The process of rebuilding will take time and a great deal of effort.
“In the meantime, we urgently need to find the unit a temporary operating base close to the harbour. I have been speaking over the weekend and today with the government about potential sites and other means of assisting the volunteers.”
The Commissioner said insurance assessors from the State Government’s Treasury Managed Fund had already carried out preliminary inspections of the site.
“We’re also working with the unit executive to help identify what has been lost, such as records and other documentation, and what needs to be and can be replaced,” he said.
The unit’s rescue vessels were not damaged.
Boaters in the area should use their marine radios as usual to call Marine Rescue Ulladulla on VHF Channel 16 or 27 Meg Channel 88.