A new base for Station 41 of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) will cut down on response time and gives the team a proper place to call home.

The base on Compensation Beach Road in Ballito is the third for Station 41 since it was founded by Quentin Power in 2018 to meet the growing rescue need on the North Coast.

Before its establishment, the closest NSRI stations were in Durban and Richard’s Bay, which meant travel time had to be factored in to rescue response.

Station 41 was first housed at “The Batcave” in the Tiffany’s Centre basement parking, affectionately named for its lack of running water and low light, before moving to the Laguna Seca business park.

A permanent home in central Ballito, minutes from a launch site, is therefore a massive boost to the rescue capabilities of the team.

“We are excited to fully move in and also to have the space for training and meetings,” said Mike Bishop, who has been with Station 41 since its inception and was voted as Station Commander in 2022.

“Our biggest challenge is crew retention and membership growth, so it is very important for us to have people regularly coming through the training, and hopefully some of them stay on.”

Station 41 has an on-base crew of 16, including six fully qualified ‘reactive crew’ members who can respond without supervision. The station is fully funded by public donations and everyone, from Mike down to the newest trainee, is there on a volunteer basis.

“The station phone is manned at all times and all six of the crew are currently on call 24/7. We hope to grow to a point where the crew can be split into two teams that can rotate shifts,” said Bishop.

Aside from sea rescues, the NSRI also assists on inland rivers and dams and during times of crisis, such as the 2022 floods.

They are also active in teaching water safety at schools, while their popular ‘pink buoy’ public rescue programme has installed 56 buoys in their response area between Umhlanga and Tugela Mouth.

“We have a dedicated group of volunteers who regularly check on the buoys to ensure they haven’t been tampered with or used,” he said.

“We can only do this as a collective and we work with all private rescue organisations and the KwaDukuza lifeguards to try and respond as best we can.”

Station 41 has three training intakes planned for 2025 and you can find out more by emailing station41@searescue.org.za

If you would like to donate, you can do so via the NSRI website at nsri.org.za/ballito where you can nominate Station 41 to receive the funds.

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