McMurdo, in collaboration with the UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) have launched their new Man Overboard (MOB) Guardian, a safety device which signals to the RNLI the position of a vessel with the MOB on board.
The MOB Guardian base unit automatically transmits, via satellite, regular updates of the vessel’s position, course and speed. If a position report is missed, then the system automatically tries to regain contact. If this is unsuccessful, an RNLI duty officer is alerted and the vessel’s position and details are passed to the nearest maritime rescue coordination centre so that a search and rescue operation can be initiated.
A statement said that the RNLI used its years of experience, in saving lives at sea, to design the MOB Guardian, in close liaison with the fishing industry. It has gone in to commercial partnership with McMurdo of the UK who will manufacture and distribute the unit.
The system also includes Personal Safety Devices (PSDs) to be worn by crew working on deck. If they fall overboard, an onboard alarm is sounded and a signal is automatically transmitted via satellite (typically in less than one minute) to alert the emergency services.
This is the first time
the RNLI has actively used its experience specifically to develop safety equipment for the marine community. It hopes revenues will mean RNLI funds can continue to be used for saving lives.
Ian Benham, RNLI Fishing safety manager said: “We have designed this system with one aim – to save more lives. Because the fishing industry is the most hazardous in the world, MOB Guardian has been developed primarily with their [workers’] safety in mind and we successfully evaluated this equipment onboard 100 fishing vessels during a pilot scheme. They will fit the MOB Guardian to their own lifeboats. They say it will be available for leisure boat owners later this year.
Mark Day of McMurdo said: “The partnership with the RNLI is a natural one with McMurdo’s years of marine safety manufacturing experience. Taking what the RNLI has learned in nearly 200 years of saving lives, and in particular during the pilot scheme for this product, we were able to produce a piece of equipment which will have life-saving capabilities for years to come.”
