Mike Hammond, zone commander south with Marine Rescue NSW, has just returned from the trip of a lifetime researching what the increasing popularity of electric-powered boats will mean for marine rescuers.

Hammond, who supports around 1000 volunteer marine rescue responders from Port Kembla to Eden and inland to Moama on the Murray River, was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to travel to nations including Sweden and Germany, two world-leaders in e-boat building and technology.

It was a dream come true for the lifelong recreational boater, commercial skipper and Superintendent responsible for the safety of Marine Rescue NSW volunteer crews on the South Coast.

Part of his role includes ensuring volunteers have all the safety training and assets needed to carry out what are often perilous maritime rescue missions. Hammond is no stranger to danger. During a stint with the State Emergency Service he helped land-based rescuers respond safely to incidents involving the growing number of electric vehicles on our roads.

“We needed to give our road crash rescue teams the tools to be safe when they turn up to a road accident and the car that's upside down or in a ditch is an electric vehicle,” he explained.

“The risks are different, big lithium batteries can overheat, catch fire or explode in these kinds of situations. We needed to prepare those responders for that kind of emergency.”

Mike travelled to Tokyo and met with officers from the Japan Coast Guard. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW

With a rise in electric boat technology - the Teslas of the sea - Mr Hammond realised he could use this experience and apply it to marine rescue.

“We’ve seen the impact e-battery fires can have on land so we need to be prepared for marine rescue responders to know what they need to do if there is a battery fire on a boat, not only to help the people onboard but also how to keep themselves safe in the process.

“I'm convinced that electric boat technology is very safe and it's not like we don't have fires on petrol boats either but I want our responders to be prepared for any safety risks posed by batteries.”

Hammond began researching how to do this and came across the Churchill Fellowship. After a rigorous application and interview process he was one of more than 100 successful candidates and the first ever from Marine Rescue NSW.

The fellowship allowed him to visit one of the world’s largest boat shows, Boot Düsseldorf and also see first-hand how marine rescue organisations in the UK, Sweden, the US and Japan manage electric boat technology.

For six weeks, Hammond travelled around the globe exploring the growing electric boat market, which he says is several years behind EV cars but will become more popular over the next decade as the technology becomes less cost prohibitive.

Mike was all smiles after riding the amazing Candela P12 foiling electric passenger ferry in Stockholm. Photo: Supplied

“At the moment an electric boat can be triple the cost of a petrol boat but in Sweden they are already using a 12-metre, electric, carbon fibre, foiling ferry to carry passengers around Stockholm harbour,” he says. “It’s the way of the future but at the moment it’s very expensive.

“Riding several foiling electric boats on the trip was a great experience, they look amazing and get a lot of attention. I’ve seen little dinghies and tenders with electric outboards here in Australia for years, but this was next level.”

As to whether or not organisations like marine rescue would adopt the technology, Hammond is circumspect.

“I think commercial operators will adopt the technology sooner because they are using their boats every day and so they will recoup the additional expense in a realistic timeframe.

“At the moment it’s cost prohibitive for recreational boaters who might take it out once a week if they’re lucky. But I think the cost will come down.

“In terms of using them for rescue, I think that's quite a way off because we never know how far we're going to have to travel during a search but there are hybrid electric boats that can potentially have the same distance and range as a traditional boat.

“It also means you've got the benefit that you can operate on purely electric power at low speed for that’s helpful in a search situation when you're looking for a fisherman who has gone off the rocks. That sort of technology will allow you to hear someone calling out much more easily than a boat with two diesel engines humming all the time. And of course it’s much better for the environment.”

For an organisation like Marine Rescue NSW which is largely funded by charitable donations, it will be a stretch to commit to that kind of cost, he added.

“But we may be able to start exploring this technology on a small scale, and while we maintain our primary offshore rescue boats we could trial a smaller electric boat for harbour, river or bay rescue.

“But I have no doubt we will start to see more electric boats on the water in the coming years and my priority is to make sure that our people are ready and safe to assist boaters who take up the technology.”