Sep 12, 2018   SOURCE: PR NewsWire

Heroes Receive Search and Rescue Awards from Maritime Non-Profit

NORFOLK, Va., Sept. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Honorees from around the world will be on-hand as the Association for Rescue at Sea (AFRAS) holds its annual maritime search and rescue awards ceremony at the Rayburn House Office Building at Washington D.C.'s Capitol Hill Thursday.

The U.S.-based non-profit AFRAS annually honors heroic rescues at sea, from the previous calendar year, for individuals and crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary, cruise liners and commercial vessels. This year's honorees include:

    --  A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer who saved 112 people in
        Texas after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
    --  A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter rescue swimmer who saved two people from a
        sailboat, foundering in the outer bands of Hurricane Irma.
    --  U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarists who medevaced a severely injured man in
        Washington State.
    --  A container ship crew who rescued 105 refugees off the coast of Libya.
    --  A Carnival Cruise Lines crew who saved a mariner in the Gulf of Mexico
        during Hurricane Irma.
    --  The crew of an auto carrier ship who rescued six people from a disabled
        boat 275 miles southwest of Bermuda.
    --  A towboat captain who successfully searched for and rescue a man who had
        fallen overboard from his sailboat off California.

These heroic individuals and crews will be formally recognized during Thursday's ceremony, which is hosted by Congressman Jason Lewis (R-MN) and is coordinated by the board and officers of AFRAS. The Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as other senior maritime and congressional officials, will also attend.

AFRAS helps protect mariners from the perils of the sea by providing monetary and in-kind donations to world volunteer maritime search and rescue organizations. The charity also recognizes and honors extraordinary maritime rescues through its awards program and annual ceremony. AFRAS is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity. Visit AFRAS online to learn more about the organization, or to make a charitable donation.

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SOURCE Association for Rescue at Sea