Cost of a rescue in your country

the part about hitting the pub was good to
very civilized

 

In the US you have a mixed situation. If you are not in imminent danger (ran out of gas, engine quit, that sort of thing) the US Coast Guard will send a towing company of your choice, like Seatow or TowboatUS, or such. They are private companies and charge you for the tow. If you have insurance some of the insurance companies include this in your policy so it costs whatever your premiums are. If you don't have insurance you should agree on a cost before they ever put a line on you.

If you are in imminent danger then the Coast Guard will rescue you or if a commercial or naval vessel or Coast Guard Auxiliary is closest, someone will be sent to rescue you. You do not get directly charged for this service. BUT it ain't free. It costs the US taxpayer thousands of dollars just to launch a helicopter, a plane or boat, even more if one of the big cutters is involved. I would hate to see the cost of the recent search and rescue operation for the football players off of Florida. (I am not saying it isn't worth it though. I put 34 years of my life with the US Coast Guard)

So although the cost of saving you may be free up front, it isn't cheap. Here's an article that gives some of the current figures. http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/coastguard/a/searchrescue.htm Even though this article is about hoax distress calls it gives a good sense of the cost.

As you can see it is over $4000 US dollars per hour to operate a plane or helicopter. About $1500 and hour for a ship, $300 to $400 per horu for a small boat. (by the way, just from my own experience, I think those figures do no include personnel costs, only the direct costs to operate the plane or boat.)


oh I might add this. The US Coast Guard is prohibited by law from charging for search and rescue. "Title 46 US Code, sec. 2110) (5) The Secretary may not collect a fee or charge under this subsection for any search or rescue service." Here's the link to the full section of the US Code http://vlex.com/vid/sec-fees-22512074 The secretary they are referring to is the Secretary of the Department under which the US Coast Guard is operating, right now the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. In reality the authority is delegated by the Secretary to the Commandant of the US Coast Guard.

This section does not apply to hoax distress calls which are a violation of Federal (and some states) law and can net you a fine and the charges for their services.