THE NETHERLANDS, APRIL 22-26 MORE NATIONS were represented at the thirteenth International Lifeboat Conference, which was held in the Netherlands from April 22 to 26, than ever before at one of these occasions. In the early days the countries represented, apart from the United States and Japan, tended to be exclusively European.

This year there were delegates from 25 countries, seven of them outside Europe. Among countries represented for the first time were Australia, China, the Faroe Islands and the Netherlands Antilles.

The delegates were housed in the new Hotel Atlantic at Kijkduin near the Hague. All the conference sessions were held in the hotel, the visiting lifeboats being moored in Scheveningen.

The organisation of the conference was flawless.

Demonstrations by the lifeboats took place in Rotterdam's Europort. A visit was also paid to Amsterdam, where the delegates, their wives and crew members were graciously received by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard. The final dinner took place in Rotterdam.

Of the lifeboats present the most impressive, and by far the costliest, was certainly the German rescue cruiser, Wilhelm Kaisen. In addition to those from the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and Britain, there were lifeboats from France, Norway, Poland and Sweden. The RNLI was represented by the new Arun lifeboat to be stationed at Falmouth, which was under the command of Captain Roy Harding, and by an Atlantic 21. A demonstration of the capsizing and righting of the Atlantic 21 was given by RNLI crew members and then by a Dutch crew.

The opening ceremony took place in the seventeenth century New Church in the Hague, where a choir of Dutch pilots sang sea shanties, most of them in English.

At the conference sessions the chair was taken alternately by the chairmen of the two Dutch lifeboat societies, A. M. Lels and J. F. Dudok van Heel.

As always the proceedings took place entirely in English. The Dutch lifeboat societies were fortunate in obtaining sponsorship for the conference and for the various associated functions from Unilever and from a number of Dutch companies.

At the first conference session it was unanimously agreed by the representatives of the 25 nations present that they would seek support for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Lifeboat Conference in 1980.

The range of subjects discussed at the sessions was exceptionally wide, particular interest being expressed in the medical papers. One of these was presented by Surgeon Captain F. W.

Baskerville of the RNLI. The other, which was written by Lt-Cdr D. S.

Smith, was presented by Dr R. L. Horton, the Commodore of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, who is himself a medical practitioner. The American paper gave examples of new thinking on the subject of hypothermia.

There was a lively discussion about the use of auxiliary bodies, most of which are based on the US example, in lifesaving and education. It was agreed that auxiliaries would be welcome at future international lifeboat confer- ences and that they should form part of national delegations.

The RNLI delegation, which was most ably led by Major-General Ralph Farrant and which included the Chief Inspector of Coastguard, Lt-Cdr J. T.

Fetherston-Dilke, produced, in addition to Surgeon Captain Baskerville's paper, contributions on the development of the Atlantic 21, the RNLI's policy in providing lifeboat cover, the role of lifeboats in intense fires and the reasons why we have voluntary lifeboat societies. The conference passed a resolution expressing concern about the problems of lifesaving when intense fires had broken out and resolved to ask the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organisation to take the necessary steps to ensure that 'the complex problems involved could be studied and appropriate action taken to provide suitable rescue craft for this purpose'.

It was decided that the fourteenth International Lifeboat Conference in 1983 should be held in Sweden. Captain Hans Hansson, the leader of the Swedish delegation, who has attended every international lifeboat conference from 1947 onwards, stated that the site would be Gothenburg..