GB2375508A

GB2375508A - Lifesaving equipment fitted with a timing device

Info

Publication number: GB2375508A
Application number: GB0111667A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mario Francesco Siano
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-05-14
Filing date: 2001-05-14
Publication date: 2002-11-20
Anticipated expiration: 2021-05-14
Also published as: GB2375508B; GB0111667D0

Abstract

A timing device is fitted to an item of marine lifesaving equipment which begins timing when the item of lifesaving equipment is deployed, so that when the lifesaving equipment is subsequently found the time since its deployment can be determined. This information enables the Search and Rescue authorities to determine the position of the equipments deployment and locate the vessel, or similar, from which it was deployed and calculate a more effective search area for further survivors of an incident involving said vessel.

Description

DESCRIPTION MARINE SEARCH AND RESCUE TIMING DEVICE Terminology.

Source = In this context: Relates to any; waterborne craft, aircraft or person that may have; lost, had an accident, foundered or crashed, thereby causing the release and possible activation of any item of survival and/or emergency location equipment primarily intended for use on the surface water.

Life Saving equipment = In this context: Relates to any item of equipment carried by the"source"that may be automatically or manually deployed to assist in the survival and/or location of persons during and/or following an accident involving the"source"that also may have the ability to float free at the mercy of winds, tides and currents in an area of water. E. g. Liferafts, survival craft, certain types of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), man overboard markers, liferings, lifejackets, Search And Rescue RADAR Transponders (SARRT).

Whenever items of life saving equipment, especially liferafts, are found at sea; Search and Rescue Authorities are obliged to identify, and establish the safety of, the"Source".

The identity of the"Source"may, depending on what item of life saving equipment is found, be traced by reference to a serial number, and/or a combination of some other information that item may carry. E. g. details of the "Source"such as; name, callsign, MMSI number, contact number, owner's details, port of Registry etc. However, not all items of life saving equipment carry a positive means of identifying the"Source"and occasionally the information is out of date or incorrect, leading to protracted enquires and usually much confusion.

Once the identity of the"Source"has been established; The SAR Authorities must attempt to make contact with the"Source"to establish its'safety. The average time to do this is up to about 4 hours when the information is readily available. On a good day it could take less than an hour, but over a weekend or night-time, it could take many more hours.

Therefore the SAR Authorities cannot sit back during these investigations and i ies cannot-, I-.-.. o"..- just hope all is ok with the"Source". They must from the time the liferaft or item of life saving equipment (depending on what has been found) until the"Source" has been established as safe, or not, take some sort of positive SAR action, that is likely to involve calculating an effective search area.

To be able to calculate a plausible search area based on the found item of life saving equipment; It is necessary for the SAR Authorities to know when it started to drift i. e. the time the"Source"of the item, possibly foundered, thereby setting the item adrift.

It is then possible for the SAR Authorities to fairly accurately, depending on the drift characteristics of the found object, using a standard"backtrack"SAR planning method, quickly establish a drift start position and or a drift start position curve. From these positions it is then easy to forward track the drift for other potential targets that may have originated from the source and establish accurate search areas based on any desired viable datum time.

Sometimes a craft has a chance to send some form of call for help prior to her foundering, if that call is received and recognised as such, a drift

startJfoundering, time, and some indication of her position, will be noted.

L However, in the event of a smallish craft being ran down, swamped, losing stability and turning over. or sinking, and for some reason being unable to send a stability and turning over, oi t)'L- distress signal : Or a low flying aircraft crashing into the sea, etc. No such call may be received.

If that craft carries liferafts, these are intended to be automatically activated and released when the craft founders. The purpose of this is to offer a chance to any persons in the water to board them, providing they are able to under such circumstances and before they are blown from their reach.

Therefore, if the initial indication of a possibly foundered craft comes from the finding of an unoccupied liferaft. SAR Services will not have a drift start time to base a backtrack search on, for other, possibly, occupied liferafts, persons in the water or on or under the upturned hull of their craft.

If the initial information of a foundered craft comes from the finding of an occupied liferaft, persons inside may be able to give some indication of the time and position of the foundering. However, having been involved in such an incident, they could be disorientated, hypothermic and confused passing information that could be misleading.

Therefore, a simple, accurate solution to provide the necessary drift start/foundering, time of a liferaft is to fit a timing device that automatically indicates the period since deployment (inflation) of the liferaft. Ideally this would be initiated by either, a timing device that receives electricity from the liferaft batteries that are activated automatically when the raft inflates in water, or by some mechanical device or pin that is triggered by the actual physical inflation process of the liferaft allowing the timing device to commence the timing process.

Other items of life saving equipment may also be the initial indication of a foundered craft e. g. float free automatically activated EPIRBs, liferings, man overboard markers, SARTs and wreckage etc.

Commonly used EPIRBs of the COSPAS/SARSAT system rely on being located by polar orbiting satellites. Most are automatically activated by a foundering craft, float free and transmit a distress signal from the time of activation. However, it may be some time, up to 2 hours, before a satellite detects their signals. The problem here being that it is only the time of detection that is noted, not the actual activation time. Also the position is derived by Doppler effect and is only approximate. It is likely, due to drift similarities, that a free-floating EPIRB could be close to persons in the water, or it may be in a liferaft.

Again, when either has been found, some form of backtrack will have to be calculated, if only to locate a sunken or drifting wreck. To find this information, as before, an accurate drift start/foundering time is needed.

The Marine Search and Rescue Timing Device, certainly has use in other items of lifesaving equipment, some are referred to above.

However, The Marine Search and Rescue Timing Device is primarily intended for use in inflatable liferafts. Most of which, do not as a matter of course, carry any means of location other than a light, illuminated by a battery that is automatically activated at the time of liferaft deployment.

Therefore, one possible method of activating the Marine Search and Rescue Timing Device is to tap into the liferaft batteries'electrical system thereby allowing the necessary timing to commence when this becomes"live"at the time of liferaft deployment.

Another means of allowing the Marine Search and Rescue Timing Device to commence timing, if fitted with it's own power source; may be, a pin that is pulled free from the device or a switch that is triggered, by the physical act of the liferaft inflating.

I believe the Marine Search and Rescue Timing Device will be an invaluable aid to Marine, Search and Rescue, and Investigative, Agencies worldwide. It could, eventually, be produced almost as cheaply as most other waterproof timepieces, and easily fitted to existing inflatable liferafts during their annual service; also maybe, to become an integral part of those newly produced, at little extra cost. However, to ensure reliability, the best option may be to consider the whole unit as disposable, and to replace it every time the liferaft is serviced.

Claims

CLAIMS MARINE SEARCH AND RESCUE TIMING DEVICE A Marine Search and Rescue Timing Device is; any device that, when carried by, temporarily or permanently, or an integral part of, any item of lifesaving, or emergency location, equipment intended to assist in human survival on the surface of an area of water; has the ability, once found and/or recovered, to display, the date of and/or time of and/or period since, the deployment and/or activation of the said item of lifesaving equipment.