Crewsafe® to Debut at Workboat Show, New Orleans

by Mobilarm on 28 Oct 2008 A unique onboard communication network with sophisticated Man Overboard (MOB) functionality, known as Crewsafe®, will make its debut at the 2008 International Workboat Show in New Orleans this December.

Crewsafe® has been developed by Australian marine safety specialist Mobilarm, the company behind the innovative V100 VPIRB MOB device, which was successfully introduced to the market at the Offshore Technology Conference in May 2008.

Crewsafe takes the concept of MOB detection to an entirely new level, by integrating it with a complete onboard safety and communications network. This approach ensures that owners and operators are able to provide crew with the best protection whilst working onboard, in the event of a MOB, security or other incident by ensuring that vital information for critical decision making is available.

The system also offers a set of management and communication functionalities that have been designed to utilise the Crewsafe network to improve efficiency and onboard communication.

'Each employee carries a small transceiver - a Tag - whose wireless signal keeps them connected to the network via a series of wireless routers. The network immediately detects any break in the signal and will automatically raise the alarm if the connection is not re-established within a few seconds.

Therefore, if a worker goes overboard, the signal is lost, the alarm is raised and GPS tracking is implemented. The Tag also features a duress button that can be manually activated if an employee is in distress but not in the water,' explains Lindsay Lyon, CEO, Mobilarm.

Crewsafe is a highly flexible system suitable for use in most commercial marine environments. It can monitor up to 12 crew using the Crewsafe Display Console, and up to 24 crew using the Windows®-based Crewsafe Management System. Both devices use identical network components such as wireless tags for the crew, and internal and external routers for the wireless network components.

'We're looking forward to unveiling Crewsafe at New Orleans in December,' says Lyon. 'It is truly the next generation of marine workplace safety solutions, providing as it does the best chance of safe recovery during a MOB incident whilst at the same time providing a wealth of added value through its extra communications functionality, which has been designed to improve onboard safety and efficiency even further.'

To find out more about Crewsafe visit Mobilarm on booth# 2502 at the 2008 International Workboat Show or visit www.mobilarm.com