The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), following the conclusion of the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue signed in Hamburg in 1979, has published and updated the International Air Maritime Search and Rescue Manual (IAMSAR) several times.
According to the convention, at national level, there is a single plan for search and rescue at sea that provides the hierarchical presence of:
- one M.R.C.C. (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre): single national centre for sea rescue;
- several M.R.S.C. (Maritime Rescue Sub Centre): secondary sea rescue centres.
Depending on the operational severity, the SAR operation can be managed at local and/or national level.
In order to meet the requirements of the Mission Coordinator, the SAR Tool module was implemented within the PELAGUS platform. This module provides suitable decision support in the first minutes of the event and maximizes the effectiveness of the search activity.
The SAR Tool module provides the natural advantages of a computer-assisted system and was created by making optimisations to the procedures defined by IAMSAR and applying drifting models that take wind and current forecast data into account. In addition, the operator is guided in the deployment of the most suitable resources for the initiation of search and rescue operations and the definition of the most effective search patterns.
The SAR Tool makes it possible to open and manage SAR events in a collaborative and hierarchical manner within the intervention groups by being able to have a continuous flow of information between MRSC and MRCC operators without the need to exchange manual documents. Furthermore, being integrated into PELAGUS, the SAR tool is the only product that allows the information from the other modules and sensors to be in the same platform.
All the information from the SAR case is then collected to make available a report (SITREP) that can be used in the debriefing phase.
Potentially, the operator has real-time access to: live and historical terrestrial and satellite AIS and LRIT tracks of ships, radar tracks, DSC safety and distress messages, satellite and radar images of oil spills, emergency communications on voice channels and ships’ voyage data with cargo manifests (e.g. SHIPRep, ADRIRep, BONIFRep, CISE Alert and SSN)
