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HONOLULU – Representatives from the Coast Guard and Honolulu City and County signed a memorandum of agreement during a ceremony at city hall to improve search and rescue interoperability on and around Oahu, Tuesday.

Rear Adm. Charles W. Ray, 14th Coast Guard District commander, and Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle signed the agreement that sets forth terms by which Honolulu Fire Department, Ocean Safety, Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, and Coast Guard Sector Honolulu will coordinate and carry out civil and military search and rescue support.

Mayor Carlisle expressed his appreciation to the Coast Guard, the Honolulu Fire Department and the Honolulu Emergency Services’ Ocean Safety Division for working to formalize an already strong relationship. 

“This agreement sets protocol to help save the lives of those who find themselves in danger in Oahu’s waters,” Carlisle said. “It also serves to protect the men and women of the Coast Guard and the city who regularly risk their lives to assist others in distress.”

The objective of the agreement is to encourage collective communications between each agency during an active search mission. Each organization involved in the agreement offers unique assets and capabilities necessary to conduct SAR missions, such as local knowledge of the community, quick response times and various technological assets.

“This memorandum of agreement will enhance cooperation between the city and the Coast Guard," said Fire Chief Kenneth Silva of the Honolulu Fire Department. "Through this agreement we will see an improvement in search and rescue notification, communication, and operation. The public will benefit from this teamwork and the improved ability of our agencies to effectively respond to a search and rescue mission.”

The cooperative agreement also focuses on the prevention of death or injury to individuals and loss or damage to property in the mutual geographic areas covered by the signatory agencies.

“The signing of this search and rescue memorandum of agreement is a testament to the teamwork and dedicated service that our city and county of Honolulu and federal responders provide every day to protect the people of Hawaii,” said Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Derrenbacher, Sector Honolulu, incident management division. “The MOA will provide long-term continuity, and leverage each organizations unique search and rescue capabilities in a cooperative spirit to maximize communications, responder safety and SAR effectiveness to meet our common goal of saving lives.”

For more information contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at 808-535-3230.