Volunteers to keep watchful eye on Torres Strait waterways following establishment of new Marine Rescue Queensland Unit

Australia’s northernmost waters will be safer with the recently formed Marine Rescue Queensland formally establishing four new Volunteer Marine Rescue units in the Torres Strait this week.

Torres Strait waterways will be patrolled by a new Marine Rescue Queensland volunteer unit.

Australia’s northernmost waters will be safer with the recently formed Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ) formally establishing a new unit in the Torres Strait.

The emergency service, which was set up last year following the merger of the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard Association and Volunteer Marine Rescue Queensland, welcomed MRQ Kubin, located on Moa Island, at an event this weekend.

Established in response to community demand, chief officer Tony Wulff said MRQ Kubin would work in tandem with recently established units on Masig and Thursday Island in order to prevent disasters from occurring in the remote waterways.

“These units are our most northern units across the state and boast some of the most diverse and challenging areas for our volunteers to carry out rescues,” Mr Wulff said.

“We know this community relies on the support of their experienced volunteers to help them in their times of need and this support will continue from the same, friendly faces they know.

“MRQ now has marine rescue units as far north as the Torres Strait and south to Currumbin on the Gold Coast and we look forward to welcoming more units to the MRQ family.”

Marine rescue volunteers cover more than 250 nautical miles (400km) across the Torres Strait with the remoteness of rescues and limited VHF radio coverage proving at times challenging for the units’ 25 volunteers.

Mr Wulff said each unit carries out around a dozen activations each year and jobs can become lengthy due to the sheer distance they service.

The Torres Strait has a proud history of volunteering at sea with marine rescue units having been in service for the past 24 years on Thursday Island, 17 years on Moa Island and seven years on Masig Island.

MRQ became part of the Queensland Police Service last year, bringing together the expertise and diverse geographic knowledge of marine rescue volunteers with the QPS’ disaster and emergency service response capabilities.

MRQ is Queensland’s first state-wide, state government-funded volunteer marine rescue service dedicated to saving lives at sea and supporting those on or near the water.

Originally published as Volunteers to keep watchful eye on Torres Strait waterways following establishment of new Marine Rescue Queensland Unit