News & Rescues

Operations, training and community news from Marine Rescue Newcastle.

Port Authority of NSW funds new thermal camera for Newcastle 30

September 2026 · Rescue equipment

It started as a grant for computers. Last year Port Authority of NSW awarded Marine Rescue Newcastle $4,400 to replace the ageing desktops we use for crew training and admin — sensible, unglamorous, needed.

Then, before a cent of it was spent, the FLIR thermal imaging camera on our rescue vessel Newcastle 30 failed. FLIR sees heat: on a black night, in fog, in rain, in glare, it picks up the body heat of a person in the water when the human eye simply cannot. On the approaches to one of the busiest ports in the southern hemisphere, that’s the difference between searching and finding.

So we went back to Port Authority with an awkward question: could we spend the grant on something else entirely? They said yes — quickly, and without fuss.

The new camera was fitted to Newcastle 30 in September. Our volunteers raised the balance of the $8,250, and our crews have trained on it since, at night, in the harbour.

“Port Authority didn’t just fund a piece of equipment. They trusted a volunteer unit to spend their money where it would do the most good.”
— Lyn Van Homrigh, Unit Commander, Marine Rescue Newcastle

Thank you, Port Authority of NSW. On the next black, rough night off Stockton, this is the equipment our people will go out with.

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