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Search-and-Rescue Technology Inspired by the Titanic
April 29, 2010
In January, an unusual rescue at sea garnered considerable media attention. Crew from a Polish ship, Baltica, spotted a dog on an ice floe in the Baltic Sea after it had floated 70 miles down a river. During the dramatic rescue effort, the dog came in grave danger of drowning. Luckily, the ship's mechanic was able to lift him to safety by the scruff of his neck.
What most people don’t know about this story is that the Baltica was part of Amver (Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue), a U.S. Coast Guard system used by search and rescue personnel for maritime emergencies. Through a voluntary, global reporting system, vessels nearest to a distress area are quickly identified so that the ones best-suited to help can be diverted. More than 19,000 commercial ships from over 140 nations participate in Amver, which has saved over 2,000 lives just since 1990—both human and canine.
"We rely on Amver for many of our search and rescue cases far out at sea," said Lieutenant Ryan Erickson, Search and Rescue/LE Controller at the U.S. Coast Guard Atlantic Area Command Center in Virginia.
How the Technology Has Evolved
Amver traces its roots all the way back to the most famous shipwreck in history. As the Titanic sunk almost 100 years ago (on April 15, 1912), passing ships mistook its distress flares for celebratory fireworks. This disaster underscored the need for a ship-reporting system that could mobilize nearby vessels to assist. However, Amver would not become a reality until the advent of computer technology in 1958, when the U.S. Coast Guard began the program as an experiment limited to the North Atlantic Ocean. (It became a global program in 1963.)
Over time, advances in technology have improved the Amver system’s ability to respond. "Amver messages have evolved from Morse Code, to punch cards, to TELEX, to facsimile, and finally email messages sent from ships via satellite transponders," said Benjamin Strong, Director of Amver Maritime Relations.
Consolidating Crucial Data
At the heart of the current Amver system is the Amver Message Processor (AMP), which receives all message reports via email.
"The reports are in a standard format with over 9,000 messages received per day, prepared and corrected for errors," explained Doug Horton, Functional Area Manager for Amver. Each message is validated taking into account last known position, speed, course, and other relevant details. If the report meets specific criteria, the message is automaticity committed to the Amver database. Every hour, all vessels on the Amver plot are moved in time, and a surface picture (SURPIC) database table is created with those positions. The SURPIC database provides U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue experts the picture they need to divert ships to a maritime incident. An average of 3,700 ships is “on plot” each day.
Expediting Rescues at Sea
By centralizing requests for assistance, Amver eliminates barriers to entry such as language differences, enabling search teams to make critical life-saving decisions quickly.
In February, two Amver-participating ships came to the aid of the Canadian ship Concordia, which had capsized off the coast of Rio de Janeiro due to bad weather. Using Amver, Brazilian authorities were able to pinpoint a ship from the Cayman Islands and another from the Philippines, which worked together to save all 64 students and crew aboard. And in April, Amver contributed to a rescue effort 3,000 miles from Hawaii with the help of the Amver-participating container ship Cap Palmerston, a Coast Guard C-130, and four United States Air Force Pararescuemen—coming to the aid of a seriously injured sailor with vital medical equipment.
