The 2009 IMO Awards for Exceptional Bravery at Sea have been presented to a professional rescue swimmer who, in Arctic conditions, single-handedly rescued eight crew members of a foundered vessel in the Bering Sea, and to two amateur sailors who rescued three people from a sunken yacht in very heavy weather off a remote South Pacific coral reef.

In a linked ceremony, Certificates for Exceptional Services Rendered to Shipping and Mankind were presented to the Commanding Officers, Officers, Petty Officers and Crews of navy ships (from EU and NATO member countries and several other individual countries from various regions), which have participated in the international efforts to repress piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

Bravery Award winners
Aviation Survival Technician Second Class (AST2) Abram A. Heller is a professional rescue swimmer with the United States Coast Guard. In the early hours of 23 March 2008, in arctic weather conditions, he single handedly rescued eight crew members of the foundered F/V Alaska Ranger. Having plunged into the waters to rescue survivors, he then gave up his place in the rescue helicopter to enable five rescuees to be taken to safety and waited on a liferaft for over one hour for the return of the helicopter, with three further rescuees whom he had pulled into it. In so doing, he was deemed to have acted over and above the standard expected of a professional rescuer, particularly on his first deployment. He was nominated for the Award by the United States.

Mr. Maurice Conti and Mrs. Sophie Conti were sailing their yacht Ocealys in the South Pacific with their young family when they heard a late night distress call from the yacht Timella, which had struck a reef, two and a half hours sailing time away. The Contis made contact with authorities in New Zealand and Fiji but, in the absence of marine or aviation rescue assets being immediately available, they planned and executed themselves the rescue of the three Timella crew members, in the early morning of 13 October 2008, exposing themselves to considerable risk. The Contis, United States citizens, were nominated for the Award by New Zealand.

The Award, a silver medal depicting on one side a search and rescue operation with a sinking ship in the background and a helicopter rescuing survivors from the sea in the foreground, and with the IMO logo on the reverse side, was presented to the winners by IMO Secretary-General Mr. Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, at a special ceremony at IMO Headquarters on 23 November 2009, during the 26th session of the Organization's Assembly.

Certificates to highly commended nominees
In addition to the Bravery Awards themselves, certificates were also presented to the following "highly commended" nominees or their representatives:

• The Master and crew of the vessel Xin Ou Zhou, nominated by China, for rescuing, in the early morning of 29 September 2008, 15 crew members of the grounded F/V Zhe ling yu yun 101, during Typhoon Jangmi;
• Lt. César Osvaldo Lara Basto, Officer in the Propulsion Division of the coastal patrol vessel ARM Rayon (PC-206), nominated by Mexico, who, on 4 October 2008, single-handedly put out a fire in the engine-room of the tug ARM Yaqui, thereby saving the lives of 34 crew members;
• Captain Cha Sang Geun of the M/T STX ACE 7, nominated by the Republic of Korea and Viet Nam, for rescuing 15 crew members from the sunken vessel M/V Binh Dinh River, over a period of eight hours on 8 January 2009; and
• Captain Bobby Noble and Mr. Tejay England, crew members of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary vessel Lynette Marie, for supporting and keeping the remaining two crew members alive in the water, for some 45 minutes after the vessel had sunk, on the night of 16 August 2008. They were nominated by the International Maritime Rescue Federation (IMRF).

Letters of Commendation
Letters of commendation for the 2009 Award were sent to the following nominees:

• Mr. Nabil Abdelaziz (posthumously), able-seaman on the tugboat Skikda, nominated by Algeria, for his part in an operation to save the lives of 17 crew members, on 6 March 2008, from the vessel MV Sophia. He lost his own life in the process;
• Lt. Cdr. Leonardo Barbosa Corrêa (2nd Pilot), Lt. (Marine Corps) Wagner Pinto Alves (1st Pilot), Lt. Junior Grade (Medical Corps) Mahmud Nayef Mahd Hasan Ihamid (Doctor) and Corporal Ângelo Cesar Suzano Rocha (Flight mechanic/Winch operator), of the AS350 Squirrel Helicopter (HU-5 Helicopter Squadron, Brazilian Navy), nominated by Brazil, for rescuing an injured fisherman from the F/V Primavera XVII, in very heavy weather on 29 August 2008;
• Captain Zeng Zuoqing of the rescue tug Nanhaijiu 101, Nanhai Rescue Bureau, nominated by China, for towing the stricken bulk carrier Asia East, with 27 crew members on board, away from oncoming Typhoon Changmi, on 26 September 2008;
• The crew of the patrol ship Hai Xun 1903, Beihai Maritime Safety Administration, nominated by China, for rescuing 33 fishermen from fishing rafts during Tropical Storm Kammuri on 7 August 2008;
• Seventeen Italian Coast Guard Officers and Personnel, nominated by Italy, for rescuing 17 migrants, including children, following the capsize of their small vessel in heavy weather on 10 June 2008;
• Lt. Cdr. Vanessa Anne I. Garon and Ensign Maria Alexandra I. Garon, Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliaries, nominated by the Philippines and IMRF for participating in several dive operations on 26 June 2008, to recover bodies from the capsized M/V Princess of the Stars;
• Captain Kim Shin Ho of the M/V KMTC Portkelang, nominated by the Republic of Korea, for rescuing four surviving crew members from the vessels Yinson Power 1 and Yinson Power 2, in stormy weather on 29 September 2008;
• Captain Jason T. Bosley, Associated Branch Pilots (American Pilots' Association), nominated by the International Maritime Pilots' Association (IMPA) who, on 19 September 2008, while travelling as a passenger on board the ferry Cape Point, took control of the vessel, at night and in heavy weather, when its Captain collapsed (later dying of a heart attack), thereby saving the lives of 60 passengers and one further crew member;
• Captains Reed Southerland and Matthew Bailey, Association of Maryland Pilots (American Pilots' Association), nominated by IMPA, for rescuing four crew members of the F/V Bass Tracker after the vessel had capsized in rough seas on 14 January 2009;
• Mr. Dan Schwall (Project Manager), Mr. Jim Conroy (Salvage Master), Mr. Mike Wood (Salvage Engineer), Mr. Stephen Wood (Assistant Salvage Master), Mr. Terry Barrows (Salvage Foreman) and Mr. Nigel Raithby (Salvage Officer) of the Titan Salvage Team, nominated by the International Salvage Union, for rescuing 25 crew members and one rescue swimmer from the grounded M/V Fedra on 11 October 2008, after a helicopter rescue had to be aborted; the team members mobilized a shore crane to a cliff, rigged and operated a man-basket to lift the rescuees to safety, over a 12-hour period; and
• Mr. Jun Wang, rescue swimmer of Beihai No.1 Rescue Flying Service, China Rescue and Salvage, nominated by IMRF, for rescuing four crew members of the container ship Xing Mingfa 17 from icy waters after their vessel had capsized on 1 November 2008.

The IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea was established by the Organization to provide international recognition for those who, at the risk of losing their own life, perform acts of exceptional bravery in attempting to save life at sea or in attempting to prevent or mitigate damage to the marine environment - and, by so doing, help to raise the profile of shipping and enhance its image.

Commending all the nominees at the Award Ceremony, Secretary-General Mitropoulos said that the event had provided the opportunity "to honour and pay tribute to courageous men and women, all of whom have displayed heroism, valour, courage and dedication under life-threatening conditions prevailing at the time of their remarkable acts".

Efforts to repress piracy acknowledged with certificates to navies
The Secretary-General also presented Certificates for Exceptional Services Rendered to Shipping and Mankind to the Commanding Officers, Officers, Petty Officers and Crews of navy ships that have participated in the international efforts to repress piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden, thanking them "for their dedication, their courage, their commitment and for the sacrifices they make".

Certificates were presented to Commanding Officers (or their representatives) of ships from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

Briefing 35, 24 November 2009

For further information please contact:
Lee Adamson, Head, Public Information Services on 020 7587 3153 (media@imo.org )
Natasha Brown, External Relations Officer on 020 7587 3274 (media@imo.org).