Man overboard events (MOB) can occur at any time during the day regardless of weather and sea conditions and from any part of the ship. Man overboard events continue to be a problem for the cruise industry.
A fall from the ship, can cause serious injury to the victims, or worse.
However, although this is a known fact for the cruise industry, a few cruise ship have a detection system for MOB incidents, Pure Tech Systems mention.
Most ships have cameras and systems to monitor the activity on them. These systems, however are uses for surveillance and evidential activities and don to have the ability to timely warn the crew about a MOB incident.
The crew usually knows when an accident happened, in the case they witness it or someone else close to the person who fell notifies them. Something that is time consuming, as it must be first verified by the crew.
This is alarming, especially given the fact that the majority of people falling overboard a ship do not survive or are never found, Pure Tech Systems concludes.
- 268 Man Overboard Events have been reported.
- On average, 22 people fall off a cruise ship every year.
- 86% of those victims do not survive, or are never found.
- An object falling from the top level of a large cruise ship can reach speeds of 70 mph.
A MOB system must be able to detect objects moving at these speeds, while mounted on the ship itself, which is in a constant state of pitch, roll and yaw. Therefore, the company has compiled a white paper to address the man overboard issue and how to use video detection as means to increase safety and reduce time to rescue.
