Legal basis

The Maritime Search and Rescue Service (SAR Service) is a state budgetary unit subordinate to the minister responsible for maritime affairs. It was established on January 1, 2002. The legal bases for the operation of the SAR Service are as follows:

• The Act of August 18, 2011 on Maritime Safety (Journal of Laws of 2011 No. 228, item 1368, as amended)
• The Act of March 16, 1995 on Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Journal of Laws of 1995 No. 47, item 243 - as amended)
• Regulation of the Minister of Transport, Construction and Maritime Economy of June 22, 2012 on the detailed organization of the Maritime Search and Rescue Service (Journal of Laws of 2012, item 733
• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of April 8, 2013 on the detailed conditions and manner of performance of search and rescue tasks at sea by the Maritime Search and Rescue Service, and the manner of exercising the powers of members of volunteer rescue teams (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1048)
• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of August 8, 2017 on the manner of organization of combating hazards and pollution at sea (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 1631)
• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of July 3, 2012 on radio listening and meteorological coverage for the Maritime Search and Rescue Service (Journal of Laws of 2012, item 821)

Providing search and rescue operations at sea and combating threats and pollution of the marine environment results from international conventions to which Poland is a party:

• International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue drawn up in Hamburg on April 27, 1979 (SAR Convention)
• The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, done at Helsinki on April 9, 1992 (Helsinki Convention)
• The International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness and Cooperation adopted in London on November 30, 1990 (OPRC Convention)
• The Protocol on Preparedness and Countering Pollution Incidents with Hazardous and Noxious Substances, adopted in London on March 15, 2000 (OPRC-HNS Protocol)