HUMANITY . . . courage . . . dedication.

These words must have equivalents in every language and they were used repeatedly by delegates from all over the world at the fourteenth International Lifeboat Conference (ILC) in Gothenburg, Sweden, from June 6 to 9.

Twenty-four countries were represented, including the United States, USSR, Japan, China, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Bermuda, Jordan and most European nations. Twelve visiting lifeboats, moored alongside Stenpiren Quay at the heart of Gothenburg, gave delegates plenty to discuss and there was a poignant reminder of the seriousness of these discussions when, on the Monday night of the conference, the Swedish rescue cruiser Dan Brostrom was called out to a 1,000-ton coaster whose cargo of loosestowed chain had shifted. The coaster's distress message was cut short as she capsized and sank in three to four minutes and in spite of immediate action, Dan Brostrom was only able to save four of her six crew.

The three British-built lifeboats at the conference attracted a good deal of attention because of their size and price. The 47ft Tyne class prototype City of London surprised some delegates by the amount of equipment packed into her wheelhouse. While she was admired, her primary feature of launching from a slipway is required in very few places other than the British Isles and Ireland and it was the 33ft Brede class Merchant Navy which other countries thought could have an application in their fleets; 'Brede Class Lifeboat Development' was one of two technical papers presented at the conference by Lt-Cdr H. E. Over, chief technical officer RNLI.

An llm rigid inflatable, built by Halmatic/Osborne Rescue Boats and bought by the Norwegian Lifeboat Society, also caused interest and it will be news of her progress to which we can look forward at the next ILC.

The largest new design was another Norwegian lifeboat, Olav V, a 26.9m 25 knot aluminium-hulled cruising lifeboat with living accommodation for her fourman crew. Particular attention had been paid to noise limitation in this lifeboat, with the GRP wheelhouse suspended on rubber mounts and special mountings of the hull sections above the propellers.

Olav V carries an Avon Searider on her deck and the three larger Swedish boats, the 21m to 23.8m rescue cruisers, each carry small boats, an aluminium dinghy, a GRP dinghy and an Avon Searider respectively. Fritz Behrens, the West German rescue cruiser at the ILC, carries on her after deck a 7m lifeboat, known as a daughter boat, which is launched from her stern for work in shallow waters.

A smaller Swedish lifeboat on show was the sleek 14m Elsa Golje, top speed 20 knots, which proved her value vividly in an incident which was studied in depth at the conference, the stranding of the Danish passenger ferry Winston Churchill on August 26, 1979.

The casualty every lifeboat organisation most fears is one involving a passenger ferry carrying a full complement, so when Winston Churchill ran aground, all rescue services were quickly mobilised. At first all seemed well, even in the strong winds, but soon after grounding the ship suddenly listed 13 degrees to starboard, slipping towards a deep water channel and increasing the risk of capsize. No boats could get alongside on the windward side and the larger rescue vessels, including the 23.8m Ulla Rinman, could not work on the leeward side because of their draught and the narrow channel between the rocks and the ship. Elsa Golje took off 150 people, helicopters lifted 250, pilot boats evacuated 241 and a fire fighting boat took off 25. Fortunately nobody was lost but the Swedish Lifeboat Society made a list of observations and recommendations and Britain's Chief Coastguard, Lt-Cdr Tim Fetherston- Dilke, reminded the conference of two recent major incidents in England, the European Gateway I Speedlink Vanguard collision and the fire on the ferry Amorique. The potential use in such an incident of walking nets, developed by the Dutch and demonstrated at the last ILC, was also discussed.

Many of the delegates were concerned about effective communications in search and rescue. The United States Coast Guard outlined the SARSAT system in which satellites pick up signals from distress beacons carried by ships and aeroplanes. The system is not yet fully operational but in its first year, using a Russian satellite monitored by France, the Soviet Union, United States, Norway and the UK, 40 lives have been rescued.

Communications close to the shore were also discussed. Lifeboat societies in West Germany, Britain, France and Canada pointed out the great value of VHP direction finding equipment on lifeboats and most countries were worried about small boat owners installing and then relying on CB radio, which has proved to be unreliable for search and rescue at sea.

Discussions on the protection of lifeboats in times of armed conflicts led to a working party being formed to meet the International Red Cross. Modern weapon systems mean that new ways are needed to identify neutral vessels protected under the Geneva Convention and small lifeboats may have difficulties in carrying enough distinguishing signs such as a red cross, blue flashing light and radio, radar and underwater acoustic identification.

Medical subjects raised including hypothermia, resuscitation and seasickness.

All delegates recognised that modern fast lifeboats place greater strains on crews than slower boats and that crew fatigue was worth further study. The United States Coast Guard had looked at both crew and survivor exhaustion when designing a new 30ft surf rescue boat which was shown on film at the conference.

All the visiting rescue cruisers and lifeboats combined with other boats, helicopters and a fixed wing aircraft in a massive co-ordinated rescue towards the end of the conference. One of the spectators of this combined operation was HM The King of Sweden. It was superbly organised by the Swedish hosts who gave each crew designated tasks and applied make up to the 'survivors' to add to the realism of the exercise.

The Swedish Lifeboat Service, through its long-serving chairman, Captain Hans Hansson, and director, Captain Gunnar Alverman, organised a very fine conference and it was rewarded with tributes from all over the world on its seventy-fifth anniversary.

The Svenska Sallskapet for Raddning af Skeppsbrutne was founded in 1907 but delayed its anniversary celebrations to coincide with the ILC. At a special dinner hosted by a Swedish shipyard the Duke of Atholl, chairman of the RNLI, made the first presentation of the Institution's silver medal with a special vellum and other societies also gave commemorative vellums, glassware and other gifts.

An anniversary banquet in Gothenburg's splendid City Hall brought together the ILC delegates, the visiting lifeboat crews and representatives from each Swedish lifeboat station and a number of fund-raising groups. It was here that the director of the RNLI, Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, was able to thank the Swedish Lifeboat Service, on behalf of the crews, for their hospitality, for all the discussions at International Lifeboat Conferences are free exchanges of information aimed at improving boats, equipment, training and rescue techniques for lifeboat crews throughout the world.

This work transcends national boundaries and by the time of the fifteenth International Lifeboat Conference, to be held in 1987 in Spain, the world's lifeboatmen will have saved many thousands more lives..