Safety Offshore:Staying safe offshore is key for us!

Safety Offshore:
Staying safe offshore is key for us!

Safety Offshore:

Staying safe offshore is key for us!

The most important piece of equipment are our bluewater lifejackets from Spinlock. We like the fit and weight of the vests. The ergonomic deckvest feals really comfortable and offers all safety features. The lifevest has a sprayhood, light at night and ability to attach a beacon which will automatically release. We never leave the cockpit in case only one person is on deck, particular at night. In case only one person is on deck at night we wear the lifejacket and beacon and use the safety harness attached to the life jacket.

Beacon not bacon or MOB recovery

You should always avoid a man overboard situation at all cost, particular being a small crew.

When we are sailing, one person could be asleep and might not hear that the other person went overboard. A beacon could alert the remaining team on board or wake them up. The team will be able to see the exact position of the person overboard on the plotter. The best chance of a rescue comes always from your own vessel which should be closest by.

We have two different beacons on board. The MOB beacon from Ocean Signal (rescueME MOB1) the world smallest AIS man overboard locator attached to our lifejackets. The system will automatically be activated. It will broadcast an AIS alert on our chart plotter, sends a DSC alert via VHF to all ships nearby and has a high intensity strobe light at night.

The second beacon alert system we have on board are PLB = Personal Locator Beacon.

The PLB beacon sends on activation the position via satellite to a rescue operation center. The device has to be registered with the relevant emergency contacts. We love the device because it is really small and easy to wear. The battery will last 7 years and it will broadcast for 24 hours on activation. The PLB will send the emergency signal to the satellites, a local radio alert and high intensity light strobe at night.

Eprib

Eprib stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon – whatever that means?

The device sends our location and a unique ID via low and medium orbit satellites from all over the world to the martime rescue coordination center. The device has to be registered such us the PLB beacon with your personal emergency contacts and information. Our device (rescueME EPRIP1) is from Ocean Signal , the most compact device and very power efficient. The battery will last at least 10 years and 96 hours when activated. The Eprib can be manual or automatically activated and will communicate via satellite, another frequency (121,5Mhz) for the local search teams and high intensity strobe light at night.

Jonbuoy – your friend when overboard

In case one person goes overboard we will press the MOB function at our plotter to capture the current position and will release the Jonbuoy device. The device will inflate automatically and has a reflective coating for easier spotting at night in addition to a light. The person overboard should reach Jonbuoy asap if possible. The device will help the person to stay easier afloat, the flag will support the crew on board to spot the person at sea, has a whistle and can be used to pull the person back on board.

Liferaft

Last but not least if we have to leave Ambra behind, which we hope will never happen we have a liferaft. The raft is fully certified ISO 9650 part 1 model from Ocean Safety.

We have a grab bag packed, with additional water and food, VHF radio, emergency signals and we will take the Eprib with us well.

Electronic Flares

In case of an emergency at night be have the electronic distress flares from Ocean Signal. The flares use an advanced LED technology, are very small, high brightness and operate 6 hours. The waterproof flares have different modes of lights including the SOS light signal can be activated.