The dedicated members of the Civil Protection Department’s marine section patrol our shores on board the fire fighting vessel Garibaldi, ready to assist vessels in distress. BEN BORG CARDONA spent a summer’s day with the men to find out what they do.

The dedicated members of the Civil Protection Department’s marine section patrol our shores on board the fire fighting vessel Garibaldi, ready to assist

vessels in distress. BEN BORG CARDONA spent a summer’s day with the men to find out what they do.

A four-man crew patrols our shores on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays during the summer months, ready to assist vessels and swimmers who find themselves in difficulty.

After spending the day with them, it became quite clear that they do have their work cut out for them. Their normal day starts off with a ship inspection, following which they make their way to the area most commonly used by pleasure craft in the Comino blue lagoon area where they drop anchor and wait for some event or another to unfold, and they invariably do.

The marine section’s primary role is sea fire fighting, with secondary roles such as towing of vessels in distress or those which break down and in turn pose a hazard to shipping, pumping of vessels that are taking on water, rescue diving, underwater searches, first aid and oil pollution support.

The crew is usually on stand-by for a large part of the day, on the look-out for any possible accidents; in fact this is precisely what happened on this particular day, when a girl happened to injure herself while jumping off the cliffs in Comino. The vessel was on standby near the port of Gozo when a radio call came in from a pleasure craft in the Blue Lagoon informing the CPD that a foreign student had hurt herself and was in difficulty. They immediately weighed anchor and rushed to the scene. On arrival they assessed the situation and immobilised the patient. In the meantime, radio communication with the control room led to a decision being taken to air lift the girl to St Luke’s hospital using an AFM helicopter. The sea is certainly dangerous if underestimated. Thankfully, with the CPD on hand, many fatalities and serious injuries are averted.