Humber Rescue
ZETOR tractors help their owners with a wide variety of work tasks. They prove their versatility, durability, and reliability not only in agriculture, forestry, or municipal services. For example, the legendary red tractors serve in many hospital complexes, where they help to keep these facilities running as smoothly as possible. Today, we look at the story of the ZETOR tractor that is literally saving lives. Introducing the PROXIMA CL 110 model, which has been in service for more than a year with river rescuers based in the town of Hessle in the East Riding of Yorkshire, just off the UK's east coast.
It all started in the garden
Humber Rescue is an independent charity that supplies fast response search and rescue operations on the Humber Estuary into the North Sea. They cover approximately 1400 square kilometers of several watercourses. The River Humber itself has proven to be one of the most unpredictable stretches of water in the world. Even the most experienced navigators can get caught out by the shifting sandbanks and strong currents in the area.
The river rescue service was established in 1990 when the first lifeboat on the river was launched from the garden of the founder of Humber Rescue, Mr. Paul Beriff. It was a small 3.5-meter rubber dinghy that was assisted by an all-terrain vehicle to launch. However, by 1995 a local boatyard was opened and immediately became the new base for rescuers.
New reinforcement from the Czech Republic
The years passed and the charity grew in numbers, volunteers from a range of backgrounds were stepping up. Equally, the callouts increased. Attending requests that range from the Coastguard to deploy to vessels on fire, and even rescue the crew of a Royal Air Force Tornado that had ditched in the Humber in 2002. This has gone hand in hand with the modernization of response technology and equipment. In October 2021, the Humber Rescue team expanded to include a ZETOR PROXIMA CL 110.
As the rescuers themselves say, "No rescue operation can start without a ZETOR. PROXIMA serves as a launch and recovery tractor. Its hydraulic lift and size allow us to quickly launch any of our rescue boats to the surface, regardless of the tidal condition. As part of our standard procedure, the tractor remains attached to our main barge to enable its rapid deployment into action. However, it can be towed behind any other vessel within minutes."
Tractor robustness, durability, and reliability. These were the main criteria when choosing a new machine. But not only that. Humber Rescue also appreciates PROXIMA's easy handling, good performance, and, above all, the low operating costs that save the budget of this non-profit organization.
The latter is now a vital emergency service for all those living near the Humber River and surrounding waterways. With a total of 3 boats and 27 volunteers, it is the busiest independent water rescue service in the UK. They go out on an average of 110 sorties a year and the ZETOR PROXIMA plays an indispensable role in every one of them. We wish Humber Rescue and their new, red crew member as many successful rescues as possible and many years of perfect cooperation.