Man overboard - Drones with infrared cameras?

You might think I'm a drone fanatic but I even don't own one. The only time I even saw one was a drone that filmed our ship in a port.

 

 

 

As for the other argument. There are cruise ships out there today that have been in service for 15 years or longer that have never sunk. Not once. Isn't it ridiculous that so many cabins are having an obstructed view by these lifeboats, which are also very expensive, need a lot of training, and don't make the ship look nice at all!?

 

 

 

I think drones will be very cheap in quite near future, and will be mandatory on ships that visit US ports just years after the first cruiseline tried them out.

Read a newspaper in the past few years? Costa Concordia? Too many ferries et al. passenger vessels to list here have gone down as well. No lifeboats? Are you really serious?

As for the drones, ask any attorney why taking humans out of any aspect of the actual search and rescue would never work.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Here's a project http://www.gizmag.com/project-ryptide/35437/ that uses drones to prevent drowning. It's about bringing a life ring to the victim, not finding him though.

 

I really would not be surprised if within the next 5 years or even faster drones will be flying non stop behind a ship looking for infrared radiation without any human intervention until the drone thinks there's a possible problem. Within seconds after the alarm someone at the bridge can look at the images and decide if it's a real person. If it is, the drone switches on a big light and drops a life ring.

 

The next part is the rescue itself. To make that happen fast, wouldn't it be possible to release a small rescue boat from the back of the ship instead of suddenly turning the whole ship around, breaking many bones and expensive tableware? That seems to be off the shelf technology for oil rigs and you'd only need a very small one, big enough to seat maybe three crew members and hopefully the victim.

Cruise ships as well as all vessels over 500 tons, have a "fast rescue boat". These have a crew of three, and can carry usually 6. Your idea of "releasing one from the back of the ship" just won't work, as dropping a small boat into the ocean while the ship is moving at 15-20 knots will capsize the boat almost immediately. Even launching a boat like these is dangerous when the ship is stationary, let alone with any headway on. And recovering the boat is the most dangerous aspect of all, and this must be done with the ship stopped and turned to provide a lee for the small boat.

The lifeboat you reference is similar to those used on most newer cargo ships, just that it is designed to be dropped from a greater height. However, the design of these boats is to be a "lifesaver", not a "rescuer", meaning that they are designed to provide a safe haven for the crew from the elements, while drifting in the area of the ship's sinking. Lifeboats are not designed for speed, or for endurance, and survival training keeps the boat near the last reported position of the ship, not put-putting off into the sunset. The boats also perform best when filled with "ballast" (read humans), and tend to act as rubber ducks in a stormy tub when empty. You will also notice that there is virtually no deck area on these boats, so rescuing someone from the water from an enclosed lifeboat is extremely difficult and dangerous. The boats are further designed to be dropped from a stationary, or slowly moving ship, not a cruise ship at full speed.

@chengkp75,

 

While you and others convinced it quite thoroughly that it might take some decennia for drones to be practical in such an incident, (and people might be wearing anti-gravity shoes by that time), this line amazes me: "The Norwegian Sky had an incident like this back in 2002 or so, when the vessel turned radically at sea speed. We disembarked 100+ passengers to hospitals in Vancouver with broken bones, and virtually every plate and glass on the ship was broken."

 

I'm not a doctor, but I have seen many statistics. It feels that so many injuries would lead to more than one death considering the average age on a ship, even if the passenger (who even might have wanted to die) was rescued.

 

The Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Sky does show an incident similar (in 2001 though), but says it was a failing autopilot.

 

Besides that, I did wonder why the cruise I had that the only visible precaution I saw was the piano on stage that had ropes to keep it there.

 

Then again, knowing that the not all tables are bolted down is quite reassuring. I hate flying because you're totally in the hand of the captain. If it goes wrong, it goes wrong within minutes and there's really nothing you can do. On a ship, after everything goes wrong, it seems you still have plenty of time and many decisions you can make yourself. YouTube has a video of the Costa Concordia disaster where the cameraman asks the bar if they are open for business.

The Sky incident may have been in 2001 (as I said, 2002 or abouts), and while the "official" reason that NCL gave was a "failing autopilot", it was in fact operator error on the part of a deck officer in inputting a heading change incorrectly into the autopilot. It was not for a man overboard, but was just a routine course change that caused the accident. Most injuries were broken arms, and a few legs.

As for the other argument. There are cruise ships out there today that have been in service for 15 years or longer that have never sunk. Not once. Isn't it ridiculous that so many cabins are having an obstructed view by these lifeboats, which are also very expensive, need a lot of training, and don't make the ship look nice at all!?

Are you being serious? :confused: I really hope this post was some sort of a joke.

Are you being serious? :confused: I really hope this post was some sort of a joke.

I think this is by far the most ridiculous post yet.

So lifeboats obstruct some views, they're expensive and need a lot of training therefore, they shouldn't have any? I guess if the Costa Concordia did not have lifeboats but had drones instead, all those pax would have been rescued by the drones?

I think this is by far the most ridiculous post yet.

So lifeboats obstruct some views, they're expensive and need a lot of training therefore, they shouldn't have any? I guess if the Costa Concordia did not have lifeboats but had drones instead, all those pax would have been rescued by the drones?

Nope. But they could have very detailed video records of where people drowned. After all, actually rescuing people is so much of a bother, and could even ruin the view for some cabins. Can't inconvenience everyone else, you know. :rolleyes:

I think drones will be very cheap in quite near future, and will be mandatory on ships that visit US ports just years after the first cruiseline tried them out.

How would they be mandatory on ships that visit US ports, when the USCG has no authority to mandate any equipment on foreign ships, but can only inspect to determine that SOLAS requirements are met. Therefore, for drones to be mandatory on cruise ships, they would have to be mandatory all over the world, and mandated by the IMO.

How would they be mandatory on ships that visit US ports, when the USCG has no authority to mandate any equipment on foreign ships, but can only inspect to determine that SOLAS requirements are met. Therefore, for drones to be mandatory on cruise ships, they would have to be mandatory all over the world, and mandated by the IMO.

I still believe "amazed" is pulling our legs with drones, floating islands, etc

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

the real purpose for drones, only 1:10 long,

JK

I agree, certainly not worth the expense.

Wow. That's a very cold hearted response. 20k or a human life...hmmm... It shouldn't even be a thought! Who cares if they did it on purpose! Drowning takes a quite a few minutes to die. In those minutes not only has the person changed their mind but now they suffer immense pain, it's one the most painful ways to die.

I still believe "amazed" is pulling our legs with drones, floating islands, etc

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Maybe amazed is the reincarnation of the poster, Redcard who is no longer around.

 

the real purpose for drones, only 1:10 long,

 

JK

There are some traffickers using them for "other things".

somehow double post

Are you being serious? :confused: I really hope this post was some sort of a joke.

Yes of course it was!

fortinweb said:

"There are cruise ships out there today that have been in service for 15 years or longer and have never experienced a man overboard situation. That's a long time to maintain a fleet of drones for nothing."

to which I responded:

"There are cruise ships out there today that have been in service for 15 years or longer that have never sunk. Not once. Isn't it ridiculous that so many cabins are having an obstructed view by these lifeboats"

I thought it would be totally obvious that I meant to say that "15 years without a man overboard" is not a very convincing argument to abandon the idea because if it was we could as well get rid of lifeboats. Apparently that message wasn't very clear so I will try to refrain from using high-level tricks like sarcasm from now on in English until I feel confident I can do those without making errors.

Maybe amazed is the reincarnation of the poster, Redcard who is no longer around.

No I'm not.

I still believe "amazed" is pulling our legs with drones, floating islands, etc

No I'm not.

We were on the bridge with the captain a week ago. He showed us the camera screen they have with two crew members standing at the bow 24 hours a day. They also have cameras that show the entire sides, front to back, and the back of the ship. These show smaller pictures of each on the lower part of the screen. If a man overboard is called they can enlarge each one and go back in time to see anyone jumping/falling off the ship. They can tell exactly where the person jumped/fell from, where the ship was and the exact time. Unfortunately it takes quite a bit of time for a ship to turn around and if some has jumped they probably are not treading water waiting for the ship to come back and get them.

Once we saw a man over board drill. They thru a dummy over board. We saw a flair. The ship had to completely turn around. A lifeboat was lowered with the nurse on board. When they pulled the dummy out of the water the nurse started oxygen on the dummy. She wasn't happy about that but she did it. Saw the dummy later just lying on an upper deck!

About two weeks ago there was someone overboard off, I think RCCL. A Disney boat was very close and actually picked up the person who jumped!