AIS has been a revolutionary product and, regardless of your opinion on its use, has changed the way mates handle heavy traffic situations. Jotron, makers of various SOLAS compliant marine safety electronics, is looking to bring this revolution to Search And Rescue operations with the introduction of an AIS enabled Search And Rescue Transponder (SART).
The device will work similar to traditional SARTs but, rather than show the position of a lifeboat on your 3cm radar, will transmit the exact GPS coordinates to all AIS enabled devices within VHF range.
We are excited not only by the product itself but the advancement of new ideas for sharing of data among the AIS network. gCaptain recently discussed the topic with the Coast Guard’s office for marine safety and is working with them to outline ideas to take AIS and data sharing from a point-to-point system to a web of collaborative sharing. Here is a basic summary of our question to marine safety: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · ais, communications, sar, solas, technology
Today we look at SARSAT information embedded to Google Earth. Ryan Erickson at the Unofficial CG Blog tells us: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · google_earth, google_maps, sar, satellites
Cittia De Salerno Sailboat Rescue At Sea
This week’s incident photo of the week is the rescue of the sailboat Cittia De Salerno’s captain, Gianfranco Tortolani, on the USA to UK segment of the the Original Single Handed Trans-Atlantic Race. AMVER tells us: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · AMVER, incident photos, Lifesaving Incidents, sailing, sar
Imagine, if you can, the confluence of events that would have to take place to leave you with marine flares being your primary method of signaling distress. The number of devices that have to fail or become unavailable to you is amazing. Your radios, GMDSS, SARTS, ERPIRBs, any number of SATCOM devices all have to be down (or gone) for pyrotechnics to be the best option. The things are the ultimate litmus test for a bad day at sea; i.e. If you ever find yourself launching a flare and you are not practicing, you are definitely having one. If you find yourself reading the directions on the label then things are much, much worse.
Perhaps because the use of pyrotechnics in an emergency is so rare, there are a lot of misconceptions about the devices, their practicality, and how to best use these “last ditch” signals. Here are some things all mariners should consider before pulling the trigger (or pulling the lanyard, or lever, or…): [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · lifeboat, maritime safety, rescue at sea, sar, solas, USCG
Air France Flight by nemesiscom
Brazilian Air Force and Navy assets are currently being deployed to the crash zone of Air France Flight 447 .
The BBC tells us: [Continue Reading →]
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Tags: · airlines, flight447, france, sar
Panbo brings us a peek inside the secret underground bunker of SPOT Messenger. They write;
My PMY March column about SPOT is now online, and you’ll see that I gave the company guff for what I thought was “hyped-up fear marketing.” But in fact they’ve toned that down quite a bit recently. The “Live to tell about it” tag line is still around, but the home page closeup of the toothy, drooling bear and the lame homilies—like the one about coming home in coach instead of in cargo—have vanished. I’d like to think I had something to do with it, but more likely is the marketing realization that Spot’s real draw is its ability to do tracking and non-distress messaging.
It’s easy to make the argument, as I did, that a PLB is a more reliable distress device, and costs about the same over time. However, there’s an interesting exception for people adventuring in the third world. That’s because Spot’s private rescue center operator, GEOS Alliance, can purportedly help you out in ways that many official third world SAR operations can not. Like helicopter extraction! Plus it’s only another $8 on top of your annual $99 Spot subscription to get $100,000 worth of such private rescue service.
Be sure to read the rest of the article located HERE. Also be sure to check out our previous SPOT Messenger and EPIRB articles.
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Tags: · emergencies, epirb, sar, spot messenger
Some years ago in a now defunct navy journal an article was written about what people think when they fall overboard. Several predominant factors were recognized: (1) Do they know I am overboard? (2) What are they doing? (3) How can I help my rescue? After some study and research the following was gleaned:
a. Most victims that fall overboard and are not recovered because their location is not known.
b. Some recovered bodies showed signs of exhaustion rather then drowning.
c. Recovered victims that remained afloat and conserved energy and remained in a position near the wake were recovered soonest.
It was determined that if the person falling overboard had knowledge of the search and rescue procedures it could increase the victims chances of recovery.
Therefore the following was developed:
INSTRUCTIONS IF YOU SHOULD FALL OVERBOARD.
1. Immediately upon notification that some one has fallen overboard or is missing the international signal for man overboard will be sounded on the ships whistle: three blasts (the letter O in the international Morse code) and a vertically fired flare will be launched. A radio message will also be transmitted on area and international frequencies.
2. If you are in sight, the ship will return to your position by the most expeditious means. This may mean simply turning around and coming to you, or if you are not in sight or it is dark or foggy, by using a Williamson Turn to retrace the ship’s track and then start a search for you.
3. Do not panic or try to swim to the ship. Use your shirt, coat or pants to make a flotation pillow.
4. WHEN THE SHIP ARRIVES AT THE START SEARCH POSITION IT WILL BLOW TWO VERY LONG WHISTLE
BLASTS AND LAUNCH A SMOKE FLOAT. The ship will then commence a search for you and will return to that smoke float every 15 minutes and sound a very long blast, and then resume searching.
5. You should swim towards the Start Search Point regardless of what the ship does. Do not swim after the ship.
6. Following these instruction will greatly improve your chances of recovery and can expedite the search.
7. If you need any further clarification ask questions now.
It is recommended this notice be posted on all department bulletin boards.
This article was written by Captain John Denham, a veteran of 66 years maritime experience in seamanship, ship handling, navigation, piloting, and education. he is also author of The Assistant and DD 891.
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Tags: · john denham, man overboard, mob, sar, search and rescue, solas
Bitterend brings us the anniversary of AMVER:
Originally known as the Atlantic Merchant Vessel Emergency Reporting (AMVER) System, it became operational on July 18, 1958. Amver began as an experiment, confined to waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, notorious for icebergs, fog and winter storms. Vice Admiral Alfred C. Richmond, Coast Guard Commandant at the time, called on all commercial vessels of U.S. and foreign registry, over 1,000 gross tons and making a voyage of more than 24 hours, to voluntarily become Amver participants. The basic premise of Amver, as a vehicle for mariner to help mariner without regard to nationality, continues to this day. Continue Reading…
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Tags: · AMVER, GMDSS, noaa, rescue, sar, seas, USCG
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