Defence technology specialist, MARSS, has completed the second phase of tests on MOBtronic for the ISO21195:2020 certification, that sets the standards for the detection of persons going overboard from ships.
In 2010, the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) was signed into US federal law, requiring cruise ships to install systems to detect, or capture images of, man overboard incidents. ISO21195:2020 was born out of CVSSA, setting the standards for what detection systems should be designed to achieve and how they should perform.
Specifically, ISO21195:2020 requires that acceptable man overboard detection systems should have a minimum 95% detection probability and generate no more than one false alarm per day on average. Having completed Phase 1 (a documentation and design test) in early 2023, MARSS has now also completed Phase 2 that involved the testing of a detection sensor.
While Phase 2 requires a minimum of 100 detections with a 95% detection success rate, MARSS MOBtronic completed 120 tests, achieving a 100% detection success rate.
Mike Collier, Product Development Manager at MARSS, stated, “We are extremely pleased to have passed Phase 2, and now are hopeful of completing Phase 3 before the end of 2023, which will involve the deployment of MOBtronic on a vessel in operation conditions for three months to measure the probability of detection and false alarm rates. Having been installed and operational on cruise ships for many years and now exceeded the ISO performance standard in Phase 2, we are confident that MOBtronic will continue to excel in Phase 3.”
While there are currently more than 300 cruise ships in operation, only a tiny fraction are equipped with a man overboard detection system. MARSS is looking to change this with MOBtronic, an automated man-overboard system for the instant detection, classification and rescue support of a human falling overboard a vessel or maritime structure.
MOBtronic installations consist of multiple sensor pods mounted around the vessel, to accurately detect and monitor persons falling overboard. Sat behind the sensors is MARSS’ proprietary NiDAR Core hybrid intelligence platform, which will automatically detect the person falling and raise an alarm with the crew.
Mike Collier added, “Without man overboard detection systems, it might take a ship’s crew many hours to realise a passenger is missing, at which point they will have to search the ship, and root back through the footage of tens of cameras to try to determine whether an individual has gone overboard. Even if footage is found, it leaves search and rescue crews with a huge expanse of ocean to scan for signs of the missing person.”
“With MARSS’ MOBtronic system, crew will be alerted immediately that a person has gone overboard, automatically enabling a rapid response time and dramatically improving the opportunity of a successful rescue.”
For more information about MARSS MOBtronic, visit: https://marss.com/products/mobtronic.
