Personal Flotation Device News

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its report on the investigation of a fatal man overboard from the fishing vessel Kingfisher (DH 110), approximately 30 nautical miles east-north-east of Wick, Scotland.On July 12, 2024, as the crew were engaged in manually shooting a string of creels, a deckhand became entangled in a creel’s leg rope and was pulled overboard. His personal flotation device (PFD) inflated on immersion, but he was pulled underwater by the weight of the fishing gear.

A crewmember reported missing from a Panamanian registered bulk carrier has been found safe on board following a dayslong search effort that involved multiple international agencies and commercial vessels.On June 25, the master of the 568-foot-long vessel Daiwan Glory issued a distress alert relayed via the Japanese Coast Guard early in the morning of June 25, 2024, reporting of a possible man overboard situation approximately 607 nautical miles south of Guam, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said.

The US Coast Guard has issued an interim final rule on mandated requirements for DUKW amphibious passenger vessels and requested comments.The statutory mandate was enacted after the sinking of the Stretch Duck 7 on July 19, 2018, which resulted in the loss of 17 lives on Table Rock Lake, Missouri.More than seven hours prior to the accident, the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm watch for the area, followed by a severe thunderstorm warning a minute before the vessel departed the passenger boarding facility.

Silver Ships, Inc. said it has collaborated with industry vendors to create an aluminum demonstration fire/rescue boat.Designed and manufactured for firefighting and rescue applications, the vessel will be used to showcase the capabilities and craftsmanship of Silver Ships along with participating vendors, whose parts and components enhance the mission-ready abilities of the vessel.Steven Clarke, co-owner at Silver Ships, said, “We tried to put as many capabilities as possible into this AM800 fire boat…

Ireland’s Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has called for a sea change in attitudes to maritime safety, as he launched a new consultation process on maritime safety: Sea Change – Building a new Maritime Safety Culture. Minister Varadkar highlighted the 134 maritime fatalities which have occurred since 2002, almost half of which were as a result of leisure activities on recreational craft. He was speaking at the launch of the consultation process in the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport which included stakeholders from shipping, fishing, leisure, passenger operators, maritime safety and many other sectors. Minister Varadkar said: “We all need to take a fresh look at how we use the waters in and around our island…

Cobham Life Support will introduce its new maritime safety system, Survivor+ at OTC 2014, May 5-8 in Houston, Texas. The Survivor+ Personal Overboard Survival System, a new class of ‘wearable’ PFD (Personal Flotation Device), uniquely incorporates both a SOLAS approved inflatable life jacket and a personal life raft into a single system worn as a compact vest for maximum readiness and survivability. “Survivor+ is designed to address key factors during vessel or platform evacuation and Man Overboard scenarios where death through drowning or hypothermia is all too common,” comments Don Blackman, Engineering Research Manager, Cobham Life Support.

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar officially launched the Coast Guard’s new state-of-the-art S92 search and rescue helicopter for the Dublin region in Weston Airport. This is the fourth Sikorsky S92 helicopter base to come into operation for the Coast Guard and means all four Coast Guard bases now have upgraded helicopters. The new S92 helicopters replace the Sikorsky S61 which was in use until recently at the Coast Guard bases in Dublin, Shannon, Sligo and Waterford.