October 2018 – AMVER System

 We are pleased to announce that our ORFEAS and KOUROS have been awarded with a Certificate of Merit by the United States Coast Guard in recognition of “outstanding dedication to the Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue System”, which seeks to provide a worldwide safety network to assist search and rescue coordination in responding to emergencies at sea.

November 2017 – AMVER System

We are pleased to announce that our ORFEAS, EVRIDIKI and KOUROS have been awarded with a Certificate of Merit by the United States Coast Guard in recognition of “outstanding dedication to the Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue System”, which seeks to provide a worldwide safety network to assist search and rescue coordination in responding to emergencies at sea.

  

September 2017 – AFRAS Awards at Capitol Hill in Washington DC, USA

We are pleased to announce that the Captain and crew of our ORFEAS have been honored for going above and beyond the call of duty to save lives at sea. On September 26, 2017, our ORFEAS received an AMVER Special Award at the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) 2017 Awards Ceremony, held at the Capitol Hill in Washington DC, USA.

Mrs Tania Tsardidou, representing our Company, accepted the AMVER Special Award on behalf of the Captain and crew of ORFEAS for their rescue of four sailors from a disabled boat about 1,082 miles off Puerto Rico during December 2016.

Mrs Tsardidou is flanked, from left, by Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul K. Zukunft, Mr. Haris Lalacos, Ambassador of Greece to the USA, US Congressmen Duncan Hunter and John Garamendi, AFRAS Chairman Dana Goward and AFRAS President Charles “Skip” Bowen. 
AFRAS helps protect mariners from the perils of the sea by providing monetary and in-kind donations to world volunteer maritime search and rescue organizations. The charity also recognizes and honors extraordinary maritime rescues through an awards program and annual ceremony.

December 2016 - Orfeas Saves Four French Boaters in the Atlantic Ocean

On December 19, 2016, our AMVER participating vessel, ORFEAS, rescued four (4) French boaters from S/V L’AMIRAL, a disabled 50-foot sailing boat in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,082 miles east of Puerto Rico.

The international rescue operation started on December 18, 2016, when rescue authorities in Fort de France Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center in St. Maarten notified U.S. Coast Guard in San Juan, Puerto Rico of a disabled sailboat in heavy weather requesting assistance after their rudder failed.

U.S. rescue authorities conducted an Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) callout to identify and notify vessels transiting in the vicinity of the distress and coordinated with Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Greece to contact our ORFEAS, which was approximately 250 nautical miles away from the disabled sailing vessel.

The Captain of ORFEAS immediately agreed to divert course in order to rescue the distressed boaters. On December 19, 2016, ORFEAS arrived on scene and managed to rescue all four French boaters despite 40 knot winds and 16-foot seas prevailing in the area. The rescued boaters were uninjured and remained onboard the ORFEAS until the vessel arrived at Ceuta, Spain on December 27, 2016.

November 2016 – AMVER System

We are pleased to announce that our KOUROS has been awarded with a Certificate of Merit by the United States Coast Guard in recognition of “outstanding dedication to the Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue System”, which seeks to provide a worldwide safety network to assist search and rescue coordination in responding to emergencies at sea.