The Application of Unmanned Marine Vehicles to Maritime Search and Rescue (Labrador and Eastern Arctic waters). Presented to the Company of Master Mariners - Halifax, NS, November 8, 2017.

1. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Halifax, NS, November 8, 2017.
The Application of Unmanned Marine Vehicles
to Maritime Search and Rescue
(Labrador and Eastern Arctic waters)
Department of Industrial Engineering:
John W. Dalziel, M.Sc., P.Eng., MRINA - Adjunct Professor
President - VR Marine Technologies Ltd
Ronald Pelot, Ph.D., P.Eng. - Professor

2. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Icarus Unmanned SAR Project – EU

3. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
INTRODUCTION
• The technology supporting Unmanned Vehicles - land,
sea and air - is rapidly improving.
• Unmanned vehicles, land and air, are making large
inroads into Search and Rescue (SAR) response.
• In the near future, Unmanned Marine Vehicles (UMVs)
will likely play a role in Maritime SAR response.

4. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS
• 'Do Unmanned Marine Vehicles have a potential role in
Maritime Search and Rescue Systems?'
and if so,
• 'What roles might they fulfill?'.
• The Dalhousie University study is looking at the SAR
resource needs, the technologies, the advantages and
disadvantages of UMVs, the possible technical hurdles.

5. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Proposed Autonomous Commercial Vessels (1)
Kongsberg / Yara
Rolls-Royce

6. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Proposed Autonomous Commercial Vessels (2)
Hronn
Light duty offshore vessel
Kongsberg/ASL/Bourbon
Kongsberg ‘K-Mate’ system
fitted to
‘Sea-Kit’ survey vessel
(Hushcraft - GEBCO-NF Team)

7. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Smaller Unmanned / Autonomous Craft (1)
MAPC – GARC (USA)
(Air deployment certified)
Rescue Runner
(Sweden)

8. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Smaller Unmanned / Autonomous Craft (2)
RHIB
Unmanned Conversion
ASV Global
C-Sweep
10.8 M, 25 knots
ASV Global

9. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Smaller Unmanned / Autonomous Craft (3)
‘Emily’ - Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard

10. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Control / Communications (1)
• Various control & communication systems are
available, ranging from limited short range up to
satellite based systems.
• Reliability, range and cost affect the choice.

11. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Control / Communications (2)
Control system comprising the core vessel system, base
server, bridge operator user interface and helm remote
controller. (ASV Global)

12. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Control / Communications (3)
Kongsberg Broadband Radio System

13. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Safety considerations and regulation key to progress of
unmanned & autonomous vessels
• AGCS Allianz
• “Autonomous technology has the potential to improve safety
but a critical element will be whether there will be sufficient
backup when things go wrong.
• “There is talk of autonomous shipping within the next five
years, but it will probably take longer for the regulatory
framework to catch-up.
• Transport Canada (3/2017)
• “no regulatory requirements presently in place …working to
develop a regulatory regime that will regulate these vehicles.”

14. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Increasing the Breadth of the Search Track (1)
• Search may have restricted visibility conditions. – UMV can
assist by:
• Use of First Person View (FPV) – viewing directly from
the UMV.
• Use of Night Vision (IR) cameras
• May use aerial device (drone / tethered drone / kite /
balloon / other?) to increase breadth of search.
• Aerial device may have significant wind-speed / flight
duration limitations.

15. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Increasing the Breadth of the Search Track (2)
TOP - Search track
breadth with Lifeboat
& UMV
BOTTOM - Search
track breadth with
Lifeboat & UMV with
Aerial Device
(Drone, Kite, Balloon)

16. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Increasing the Breadth of the Search Track (3)
Tethered Drone (SkySapience)
Kite (MAPC -Talons Kite system
on DARPA’s ‘Sea Hunter’)

17. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador SAR Incidents (1)
TIME IS THE ENEMY OF US ALL
This is particularly the case for someone in distress in
cold waters.

18. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador SAR Incidents (2)
F.V. ATLANTIC CHARGER – Sept 2015
“Watkins said his men spent hours in a life-raft before they
were put aboard a cargo ship and then brought to Harbour
Grace by another fishing boat...” (CBC – 9 Oct 2015)

19. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador SAR Incidents (3)
Trawler SAPUTI – collision with ice – Feb 2016
“ Nunavut officials press for Arctic search and rescue base
'If we have a major incident up here, we are in a very bad
position to be able to respond.’ (CBC - 7 March 2016)

20. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador SAR Incidents (4)
2009 – 2013 (SISAR Database)
Eastern Arctic
Incident Severity
Class Count
M1(Distress) 11
M2(Potential
Distress) 7
M3(Non-Distress) 18
Total 36
Labrador
Incident Severity
Class Count
M1(Distress) 5
M2(Potential
Distress) 7
M3(Non-Distress) 36
Total 48

21. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador SAR Incidents (5)
2009 – 2013 (SISAR Database)
Eastern Arctic Labrador

22. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador
Unmanned Marine Vehicles
Augmenting SAR Response Capability (1)
UMV deployed from Aircraft
• From an aircraft or a
helicopter:
• Assist personnel in the
water; give place of
refuge.
• Marshal liferafts
• Control from the aircraft or
remote.
RAF WWII
Airborne Lifeboat
(Warwick Aircraft, IWM
Collection)

23. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador
Unmanned Marine Vehicles
Augmenting SAR Response Capability (2)
Launch from ship (or shore)
• Option of manned or
unmanned
• Man overboard, search,
rescue persons in the water
• Control from the ship or
remote.
• Faster response than from
a conventional ship
RHIB
Unmanned Conversion
ASV Global

24. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador
Unmanned Marine Vehicles
Augmenting SAR Response Capability (3)
Stand-Alone Vessel (1)
• A range of possible operating scenarios, vessel designs,
vessel capabilities
• What can it do? what can it not do? reasonable
expectations
• Operating to provide initial rescue assistance, or,
prepositioned to allow a crew to board (remote base, or air
deployed SAR Techs).

25. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Eastern Arctic & Labrador
Unmanned Marine Vehicles
Augmenting SAR Response Capability (4)
Stand-Alone vessel (2)
• Place of temporary refuge
• Operating with other SAR resources: ships, aircraft, shore
based personnel.
• Control system - reliability, backup, management; what
happens when it fails?
• Maintenance regime for a remote location
• A RANGE OF INTERESTING QUESTIONS & FASCINATING
POSSIBILITIES!

26. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Dalhousie University Projects (1)
• Study into ‘The application of Unmanned Marine Vehicles to
Maritime Search & Rescue’; Presented at the 2nd and 3rd
IMRF-FTP meetings in Sweden & the Netherlands, Nov 2016
& March 2017:
https://www.international-maritime-
rescue.org/projects/panels-groups/future-technology-
panel-2016/future-technology-panel-2016-download
• Reported in the ‘Maritime Executive’ (16 Dec 2016):
http://www.maritime-
executive.com/editorials/unmanned-vehicles-could-aid-
search-and-rescue

27. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Dalhousie University Projects (2)
CAPSTONE PROJECT
• Final year student project
• Build a very small UMV for
SAR (1.5 M), range 1.5 NM.
• Motorguide trolling motor
• Launch by a couple of
persons from a SAR cutter to
participate in Search
• First person view, optical / IR
Preliminary Conceptual
Sketch
(Sponsored by Mercury Marine &
VRMT)

28. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Dalhousie University Projects (3)
Student Design Project Challenge - Conceptual Design of an
Unmanned Marine Vehicle for Search and Rescue
Feasibility Study - 'Statement of Requirements' and
preliminary Conceptual Design. Possible roles are:
• Locations with few existing SAR resources - such as the
waters off Northern Labrador, eastern Greenland, Antarctica
or other remote locations with some shipping / air traffic
but limited SAR resources.
• Response for a ‘Man-overboard’ from a passenger vessel
• SAR response in conjunction with a manned rescue vessel
• Other roles determined by students teams.

29. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Summary (1)
• Unmanned / autonomous technologies are rapidly
developing
• Regulatory framework moving more slowly
• Unmanned Marine Vehicles (UMVs) could likely improve
Search and Rescue (SAR) response capabilities
• The capabilities and limitations of UMV’s should be
evaluated, and understood by the operators.
• UMV’s will likely not replace manned SAR resources, but
could augment them, and form part of an integrated SAR
resource capability

30. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Summary (2)
UMVs could improve rescue response by potentially:
• Being deployed from aircraft
• Being launched from ships
• Acting as stand-alone craft in fairly remote locations
with few SAR resources, such as northern Labrador
and Davis Strait.
• Accompanying ground SAR teams on inland
shoreline searches
• Aiding rescue vessels in their search efforts by
increasing the width of the search patterns

31. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Summary (3)
UMVs could reduce the risk to rescue personnel by:
• Operating near shore in conditions where it may be
dangerous for rescue boats and personnel
• Being launched from a ship in poor weather conditions,
to assist persons in the water (rather than, or
preparatory to, launching a manned boat)
• Being a base (and refuge) for SAR Technicians who
parachute into the sea from aircraft
• Attend vessels on fire in hazardous atmosphere
conditions

32. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
CONTACT
John W. Dalziel, M.Sc., P.Eng.
Dept. of Industrial Engineering
Dalhousie University
PO Box 15,000
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada B3H 4R2
902-817-4119
john.dalziel@dal.ca

33. UNMANNED MARINE VEHICLES – SAR
Company of Master Mariners
Thank you for your attention!