System and method for automatic distress at sea

• US 8,674,853 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2011
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ebrahim Aminizadeh, Mohammad Mahdavi Gorabi, Reza Hossein Ghobakhloo
• Original Assignee: Ebrahim Aminizadeh, Mohammad Mahdavi Gorabi, Reza Hossein Ghobakhloo
• Inventors: Gorabi, Mohammad Mahdavi, Ghobakhloo, Reza Hossein, Aminizadeh, Ebrahim
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LAURA N
• Application Number:
  US13/236,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20120007750A1
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: 340/984, 340/573.1, 340/539.13, 340/8.1, 340/7.5, 340/6.1, 34053916-53918
• US Class Current: 340/984
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 43/00 Improving safety of vessels, e.g. damage control, not otherwise provided for fire-fighting in ships A62C3/10
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/009 Signalling of the alarm condition to a substation whose identity is signalled to a central station, e.g. relaying alarm signals in order to extend communication range

Abstract

The embodiments herein provide a system and a method for automatic distress alerting at sea. The method comprises detecting a distress situation by the sensors, sending a distress signal to the processor device, initiating an alarm for a pre-defined time, confirming the detected distress situation by a responsible officer, sending a distress alert package generated by the processor device through a main transmitter device to several satellites and to the terrestrial stations, informing nearest maritime search and rescue coordination centers after receiving the distress alert package and sending one or more rescue teams to a location based on a data provided in the distress alert package. If the alarm is detected to be false by the responsible officer then the distress alert is removed and alarm is activated if the responsible officer neither confirms nor denies the distress situation.

Claims

1. A method for automatic distress alerting at sea, the method comprises:

installing a plurality of sensors on a ship;

installing a processor device on the ship;

detecting a distress situation by the plurality of sensors;

sending a distress signal to the processor device;

initiating an alarm for a pre-defined time by the processor device;

confirming the distress situation detected in the ship by a responsible officer;

generating a distress alert package by the processor device, and wherein the generated distress alert package comprises a type of the emergency situation and an event received from the plurality of sensors installed on the ship, a situation of a distressed craft received from a global positioning system, an emergency declaration time received from the global positioning system, an international maritime organization (IMO) number or unique identification number (CALL SIGN) or maritime mobile service identity (MMSI) received from an automatic identification system, a type of a dangerous cargo received from the automatic identification system, and a satellite contact number of the distressed craft from one or more satellites;

sending the distress alert package to a main transmitter device by the processor device;

transmitting the distress alert package to one or more satellites in the highest orbit of an earth by the main transmitter device;

transmitting the distress alert package directly to one or more satellites in the highest orbit of an earth through an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPRIB) device, when the ship is sunk, and wherein the EPIRB device is released from a package when the ship is sunk and wherein the EPIRB device comes to a water surface automatically after going under the water and the pressure on the EPIRB device is increased;

transmitting the received distress alert package to a plurality of terrestrial stations by one or more satellites;

informing a nearest maritime search and rescue coordination center by the plurality of terrestrial stations after receiving the distress alert package; and

sending one or more rescue teams to a location based on a data provided in the distress alert package,

displaying an information from electronic navigational charts (ENC) and an integrated position information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a plurality of navigational sensors, on an electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) installed on the ship, and wherein the plurality of navigational sensors include Radar and automatic identification systems (AIS);

displaying an alert message transmitted by a transmitter positioned on a distressed craft on an ECDIS map to indicate to the responsible officer that a distress alert package is transmitted from the ship by the transmitter devices, and wherein the ECDIS IS an electronic chart data comprising a plurality of vector charts with standardized content, structure and format, issued for use with ECDIS on the authority of government authorized hydrographic offices, and a plurality of raster charts, and wherein the plurality of raster charts are raster navigational charts produced by converting paper charts to digital image by a scanner;

identifying a direction of an alert message transmitted from a distressed ship and observing a location of the distressed ship on the ECDIS device by providing the ECDIS device with a Direction finder of Very High Frequency/Medium Frequency/High Frequency (VHF/MF/HF frequencies), and wherein the direction finder further includes a radio direction finding and wherein the direction finder works by comparing the signal strength of a directional antenna pointing in different directions, and wherein the ECDIS further displays additional navigation-related information and wherein the additional navigation-related information includes sailing directions and a Fathometer reading;

wherein the distress alert is removed from a transmission process when the alarm is detected to be false and the responsible officer does not confirm the distress situation and wherein a distress alert process is continued automatically and the processor device confirms the distress situation when the responsible officer neither confirms nor denies the distress situation for a pre-determined time.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors installed on the ship comprises:

a plurality of fire detection sensors comprising a plurality of heat sensors;

a plurality of smoke sensors for detecting fire or smoke on the ship;

at least a flooding detection sensor for detecting floods at the sea;

at least a collision and grounding sensor for detecting a collision of the ship;

a man over board sensors installed in a special form of a watch to detect a man over board situation; and

at least a sinking vessels sensor with emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) for detecting a sinking event of a ship.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the distress situation is at least one of an event selected from a group of events comprising a fire on a ship, a flooding condition, a falling event from a ship to a sea, a man over board condition, a ship sinking event, a marine accident condition and an aground condition.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprises confirming and denying a distress situation by the responsible officer in the ship using a confirm button and a deny button provided in the processor device installed on the ship.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the main transmitter device is a Search and Rescue Beacon (SAR Beacon) device and wherein the SAR Beacon device sends the distress alert package on a pre-determined frequency and transmits the distress alert package to a Space System for the Search of Vessels in Distress-Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (COSPAS-SARSAT) satellites in the highest orbit of the earth.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprises attaching a water sensor based watch to a person working at a sea thereby enabling the person working at sea to send distress alert manually when the water sensor based watch senses the water and wherein the distress alert is sent to a navigation device on the ship and is delivered to the processor device.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprises connecting the processor device to the ECDIS device on the ship to observe a situation of a distressed person in the water on an electronic map of the ECDIS device of the ship.

8. A system for sending an automatic distress alert message at sea, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors mounted on a ship wherein the plurality of sensors include at least a fire detection sensor and at least a heat sensor for detecting a fire and at least a smoke sensor for detecting a smoke in the ship;

at least a flooding detection sensor for sensing floods;

at least a collision and grounding sensor for sensing a collision or an accident of the ship;

a man over board sensor for sensing a man over board condition;

at least a sinking vessel sensor with an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB);

a global positioning system (GPS) for providing a location and time information in all weather condition;

an automatic identification system (AIS), and wherein the automatic identification system (AIS) is an automated tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and VTS stations;

an information processing device, and wherein the information processing device comprises a power supply unit, an analog to digital converter for converting analog input to digital data for processing, and a main information processing device;

a digital selective calling (DSC)-VHF/MF/HF DSC device to initiate a ship to-ship, a ship-to-shore and a shore-to-ship radio telephone and MF/HF radio telex calls;

a High/Very high/Medium Frequency (HFNHF/MF) radiotelephone and a radio telex (narrow-band direct printing) equipment in HF Frequency, for initiating calls using a digital selective calling (DSC);

an electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) for displaying an information from electronic navigational charts (ENC) and integrating a position information from the global positioning system (GPS) and a plurality of navigational sensors, and wherein the plurality of navigational sensors include Radar and automatic identification systems (AIS), and wherein the ECDIS further displays additional navigation-related information and wherein the additional navigation-related information includes sailing directions and a Fathometer reading, and wherein the ECDIS IS an electronic chart data comprises a plurality of vector charts with standardized content, structure and format, issued for use with ECDIS on the authority of government authorized hydrographic offices, and a plurality of raster charts, and wherein the plurality of raster charts are raster navigational charts produced by converting paper charts to digital image by scanner;

a direction finder operating in HF/MF/VHF frequency for establishing the direction from which a received signal was transmitted, and wherein the direction finder further includes a radio direction finding and wherein the direction finder works by comparing the signal strength of a directional antenna pointing in different directions;

an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), and wherein the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) is a tracking transmitter for detecting and locating boats, aircraft and people in distress; and

a SAR Beacon (search and rescue beacon) to detect and locate mariners, aviators, and recreational enthusiasts in distress at anywhere in the world at anytime and in almost any condition.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the automatic identification system provides an information, and wherein the information include an unique identification, a position, a course, and a speed of a nearby ship and wherein the information is displayed on a screen on an automatic distress alert system in an ECDIS equipped in a ship.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein each digital selective calling equipped ship is assigned with a unique 9-digit maritime mobile service identity to make a digital selective call to individual stations, groups of stations and to all stations within in a radio range.