*** New Marine SAR Technology Saves Lives ***

Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 08:51:02 -0400 (AST)
Sender: rcc-l@rcc-net.org
Subject: Vanessa M/V Incident
         - Marine CANSARP Software & Self-Locating Buoys

On October 23, 1997, the M/V Vanessa sank off the east coast of
Newfoundland. All 15 persons on board abandoned ship, however only 9 were
able to board a liferaft. The remaining 6 persons, all of whom were
wearing lifejackets, were washed overboard.

RCC Halifax launched a massive search and rescue effort to locate and
rescue the crew of the M/V Vanessa. 10 survivors were rescued, 4 bodies
were recovered, and one person remains missing. The search was called off
on October 24th, 1997 after the lifejacket of the last crew member was
recovered.

Technical Background

A critical element of the Vanessa rescue operation was to determine the
likely location of the survivors. RCC Halifax used search planning
software developed by the Canadian Coast Guard - the Canadian Search and
Rescue Planning Program  (CANSARP) - to generate a search area.

RCC Halifax also deployed, for the fist time during a SAR mission, 2
Self-Locating Datum Marker Buoys (SLDMB). The purpose of the SLDMBs is to
improve the accuracy of CANSARP search areas by measuring drift conditions
at the scene of an incident. Previous experiments indicated that the
probability of containing the targets within the search area without the
SLDMB data was as low as 10%.

SLDMBs are the product of an R&D program conducted by the Defence Research
Establishment Atlantic with support form the Canadian Coast Guard College
and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography. The buoys are roughly the size
of a large juice can, can emulate the drift of a liferaft or a person, and
transmit their GPS position to the RCC by satellite. Funding for the
program was obtained from the New SAR Initiatives Fund administered by the
National Search and Rescue Secretariat.

The Canadian Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Transportation
Development Centre and the United States Coast Guard Research and
Development Centre, had developed prototype SLDMBs prior to the project
conducted by the Defence Research Establishment Atlantic. As a result of
the Coast Guard research program, named the ADDAM project, the utility of
SLDMBs in search planning was demonstrated, pre-production prototypes
were manufactured, and a detailed production specification was developed.
Lack of funding prevented the continuation of the ADDAM project, and the
program was handed over to DND.

SLDMBs are manufactured in Canada by Seimac Limited of Halifax.

Impact of the New Technology

Search planners at RCC Halifax indicate that the SLDMB information, which
was entered into CANSARP, almost certainly saved the life of the one
survivor who was not in the liferaft, and may have also saved the other
nine who were in the raft. Without the SLDMB information, they would have
searched the wrong area, and almost certainly would not have located and
rescued the survivor in time.

The October 25th Edition of the Toronto Globe and Mail commented on the
utility of the SLDMB and CANSARP in directing rescue vessels to the
location of survivors.

Ongoing Research in SAR Technology by the Canadian Coast Guard

The Canadian Coast Guard, in cooperation with the Canadian Coast Guard
College, is continuing to investigate means to improve SAR operations.

Myles J. Ross,             	 Tel: (902) 564-3660
CCGC, P.O.Box 4500,      	 Fax: (902) 562-6113
Sydney, (NS) Canada B1P 6L1 	 E-Mail: mylesr@cgc.ns.ca
http://www.rcc-net.org   	 E-Mail: mylesr@rcc-net.org

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