The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''

Koninklijk or (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Ki ...

e Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij'', abbreviated: ''KNRM'') is the voluntary organization in the Netherlands tasked with saving lives at sea. For that purpose, it maintains 45

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

stations along the Dutch coast of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

and Wadden Sea and on the IJsselmeer. It maintains 78 boats ranging from small boat to 21 meter long RHIBs. It also provides lifeguard services at some beaches on the Frisian Islands in the Waddensea, and the beach of Wassenaar. Its headquarters have been in IJmuiden since 1996. The KNRM was created May 22, 1991 by merging the Koninklijke Noord- en Zuid-Hollandsche Redding-Maatschappij (founded November 11, 1824), called the ''Noord'' (North), and the Koninklijke Zuid-Hollandsche Maatschappij tot Redding van Schipbreukelingen (founded November 20, 1824), called the ''Zuid'' (South). Between 1824 and 2006, they answered 36358 distress calls and saved 79887 people out of distress situations. Yearly they have about 1700 distress calls with about 3500 people saved (2008). The KNRM also operates the Dutch Radio Medical Service (a task taken over from the Netherlands Red Cross on January 1, 1999) and provides medical advice by radio to about 900 ships each year. Like the comparable Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which operates in the UK and Ireland, and the

German Maritime Search and Rescue Service The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (german: Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger - DGzRS, ; lit. ''German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons'') is responsible for Search and Rescue in German territorial waters ...

, the KNRM is entirely financed by private donations.

Famous lifeboat-saviors

* Henry Freeman * Dorus Rijkers * Grace Darling * Henry Blogg

Famous rescues

Rescue of the Renown ''Renown'' was a barque used as a sailing cargo ship built in 1842 by R. & H. Green in Blackwall, London. She survived a cyclone at Calcutta in 1864, and was sold to German owners in 1882. In 1887 or 1888 she foundered off Den Helder on the Dut ...

External links

Official site (Dutch)

Official site (English)

Locations Lifeboat Stations KNRM in Google Earth
{{Authority control Sea rescue organizations Transport in the Netherlands Organisations based in North Holland Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage Velsen 1991 establishments in the Netherlands Organizations established in 1991

Famous lifeboat-saviors

Famous rescues

See also

External links