Peace of mind for fishermen
Fisherman Malcolm Gosman from Ramsgate, UK, is the latest to equip his fishing vessel with the RNLI’s innovative man overboard safety system, MOB Guardian. And he’s the first to do so at the time of fit out, meaning he’ll benefit right from the Sarah Ray’s first launch.
Mr Gosman has skippered another boat fitted with the equipment and saw the benefit: “Some of the other boats in Ramsgate are using MOB Guardian – and I’ve been running one of the boats fitted with it for the last year. I’ve been so impressed with the system that I wanted to fit it to my new catamaran. Because it’s been installed at the fit out stage, as soon as my boat is launched the system will be working.”
MOB Guardian consists of a base unit in the wheelhouse and personal safety devices (PSDs) worn by the fishermen. The base unit automatically transmits regular updates of a vessel’s position, course and speed, via satellite, to the RNLI’s monitoring station. If an update is missed, the monitoring station tries to regain contact and if no further updates are received an alert is raised with the RNLI. An alert is also raised if a fisherman wearing a PSD falls into the water, or activates the PSD manually.
Mr Gosman explains what it means in practice: “Should something happen, particularly in the hours of darkness, you’ve got something to alert the emergency services immediately. My son works onboard and I make him wear the device. It gives me peace of mind.
“With all the grants and subsidies it will cost me just over £400 for a unit with four PSDs, instead of the £1,700 it would have been without. It’s not a lot of money for something that, at the end of the day, could save your life.” Mr Gosman says that with MOB Guardian: “There’s a decent chance of being found; without it there’s no chance.”
(source)