Welcome on board!
European standards in travel safety are continuously being tightened. The maritime industry is no exception as it has seen its fair share of disasters, from Italy to South Korea. As ships get larger, their evacuation becomes more difficult, often hampered by complications such as fire, flooding or explosion. This has prompted a need for a more efficient solution to locate passengers in real time, as well as a centralised evacuation control system to minimise injury and save lives. With this in mind, the EU-funded LYNCEUS (People Localization for save ship evacuation during emergency) project developed a sophisticated system that gathers pivotal information in an emergency. This includes real-time data such as temperature, smoke detection, water levels and inclination. Generally, enabling the crew to provide updated instructions for safe evacuation is crucial for containing the disaster. Such a system however requires the installation of a comprehensive sensor network to monitor any unfolding disaster and track passengers, both on board and off the vessel. To achieve these goals, the project team investigated ultra-low power wireless body-area-network technologies. It gathered user requirements and developed modular architecture for the wireless sensor node platform, which, for example, can connect with sensors in bracelets and life jackets. LYNCEUS made important headway in delivering the required software and hardware for a successful prototype that can monitor conditions and passengers from a convenient handheld device. The system’s components offer passenger status (behaviour) monitoring, people localisation in ship and in sea, and passenger counting and identification. They also monitor emergency progress or escalation, in addition to providing safe evacuation and emergency management decision support. In summary, LYNCEUS created a family of technologies which pushes current practices for safety on board, helping manage disasters at a very early stage. Once the system is fully adopted it is bound to significantly minimise danger to passengers and crew in case of emergency, while reducing damage to costly ship components as well. In addition to becoming safer, Europe’s shipping industry will become more profitable thanks to such technology.
Keywords
Ship safety, maritime industry, LYNCEUS, localisation, evacuation, emergency
