Blog
According to recent research, losses at sea in the shipping industry have been on a consistent downward trend over the past ten years – with 153 losses registered in 1996 and only 51 recorded for 2016 as of November 25, 2016. What could be the main reasons for this and why is the industry safer […]
It’s not often that one gets to be part of a game-changing event. In the search and rescue (SAR) world, all of us are part of life-saving activities and developments every day. Still, NOAA’s decision to commission first-of-its-kind ground stations reminded me of the big picture. I’m struck by the enormity of the Cospas-Sarsat satellite […]
As a seasoned product manager at McMurdo – and an engineer on ships around the world for years before – I appreciate the global search and rescue (SAR) ecosystem that helps protect the lives of our customers every day. Recently, I was reminded of the strength of one of the smallest parts of that […]
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend and present at the 5th Annual International Search and Rescue Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference provided an opportunity for search and rescue agencies, government officials and equipment manufacturers to learn about the past, present and future of the search and rescue industry. There were […]
McMurdo Makes MEOSAR a Reality: The First Save You’re backpacking alone in rugged terrain. You fall more than 90 feet, break one of your legs and can’t walk. Even your cooking pot is mangled. What’s the best thing you can hope for? For New Zealand’s Don Stevens, it was the distress signal from his personal locator beacon […]
National Safe Boating Week begins on May 21, 2016 and ends on May 27, 2016. This is an outstanding safety outreach event developed by the National Safe Boating Council to educate the recreational boating community on the importance of wearing a life jacket, with an emphasis on their year-round “Wear It!” a North American […]
When the International Maritime Rescue Federation announced its inaugural H.E.R.O. (Honouring Excellence in Rescue Operations) Awards earlier this month, it was the realization of a vision that was sparked in early 2014 during the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. What does the Apollo moon landing have to do with search and […]
Search and Rescue (SAR) is receiving a lot of attention recently due to several high-profile incidents on land, in the air and at sea. We’ve all heard about these incidents – a hiker lost in the wilderness, an airline disappearing, a fishing crew lost at sea, a recreational boating tragedy – and we wonder to […]
On March 2nd, 2015, the U.S. Coast Guard passed a progressive mandate that requires certain categories of commercial vessels, such as fishing boats, tugs and ferries, operating in U.S territorial waters to install a USCG certified Automatic Identification System (AIS) transceiver by March 2016. This adoption of AIS technology is a great leap forward in […]
Over the last four decades, we have seen the evolution of Search & Rescue (SAR) technology produce some of the most integral innovations in the saving of human lives. With a deep-rooted history of global collaboration and cooperation, the creation of new SAR systems has advanced satellite-driven SAR technologies by giant strides. Whether on land, […]