VMR Bowen

About VMR Bowen

Started in 1969 as Bowen Air Sea Rescue.

Changed to Volunteer Marine Rescue, Bowen in 1997, call sign VMR487.

We have approximately 30 active members, currently comprising 11 Skippers, 13 Crew, 2 Radio Operators and 4 Controllers.

Our Rescue vessel is an 8.8 metre “Noosa Cat”, powered by twin 250 hp Mercury outboard motors.

The vessel call sign is “Rescue Bowen”.

The vessel carries 1000 litres of fuel.

Operational Information

We operate with a minimum of 1 skipper and 2 crew members.

Our main base at the Bowen Boat Harbour is a 2-storey building with an operations / training room on top of the building, and the vessel is on rails stored underneath, allowing it to be winched in & out of the water as required.

We have a floating pontoon & walkway used to transfer personnel to and from the vessel.

Our base fuel tank holds 750 litres of fuel.

We operate under the direction of either the Townsville or Whitsunday Water Police.

Our area of operation is from Abbott Point in the north to Dingo Beach in the south, and out to the Great Barrier Reef. This encompasses an area of approximately 7,000 square kilometres.

The Base is manned on weekends and public holidays, depending on manpower, and we monitor HF channel 2182 and VHF Channels 16, 21 and 73.VMR Bowen maintains a VHF channel 21 repeater on Holbourne Island.

We also have 4 sub-base radios as backup out of hours.

Our squadron Training Officer conducts practical and theory training as  is neccessary

We do approximately 15-20 rescue activations, and conduct 10 training runs per year.

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