Succorfish previews new crew safety product

The innovative search and rescue PLB/AIS SART beacon has been designed to be worn at all times during operational activity. It securely fastens onto an individual’s arm or life jacket to offer worldwide coverage transmitting location over AIS and the global COSPAS SARSAT rescue network.

Waterproof up to a depth of 100m, the SC4 also has an overboard feature with a range of 25 miles from the vessel in clear conditions.

Tom Rossiter, head of marine at Succorfish, told Maritime Journal: “The product development request initially came from a number of customers and it was in response to the lack of a single solution to safety onboard marine vessels. At the moment there isn’t a single solution on the market that is everything that the customers are looking for.”

“When we previewed the product at the International Workboat Show in New Orleans, we had quite a bit of interest but we don’t have any orders as of yet. The next stage now is testing in 2013with the Irish Coastguard, then it will go through certification,” he added.

The company has designed the marine safety device, which complies with COSPAS SARSAT standards, to reliably operate in all temperatures and offer real time GPS positioning to 1m worldwide.

The SC4 also provides an SOS LED flashlight and includes ‘Kickstart’ technology which delivers the fastest known satellite signal. The vessel’s name and live time man overboard location are auto-transmitted via a secure online graphical user interface, allowing rescue personnel to identify its exact location and reduce unnecessary search time, therefore maximising recovery efforts.