Modeling and analysis of man overboard and search and rescue operations

Abstract

Although progress has been made in many areas such as safety equipment, work rules, and so on, the occupational accidents that seafarers are exposed to and the death rates due to these accidents are very high. The most dangerous of these accidents is man overboard accidents. As the type of occupational accident with the highest death rate, falling overboard accidents pose a great risk for seafarers. Hundreds of seafarers, passengers and boat users die every year as result of man overboard accidents. Overboard accidents, unlike other types of accidents, consist of multiple stages and there are many factors that determine the outcome of the accident. After the accident is detected, first interventions are made, the search and rescue process begin, if the casualty is found, taken on board and post-rescue responses are made. A problem in any of these stages may adversely affect the absolute outcome of the response process. There are many factors that affect the outcome of a man overboard accident. A large amount of data has been collected from different sources to better understand these factors and the accident process. Databases were scanned, accident reports, textbooks, company procedures were examined. Expert opinions were received, surveys were conducted and even a small workshop was organized. The obtained data were examined, analyzes were made with different statistical methods, time modeling was established and simulation models were made. A detailed examination of the data and analysis results revealed that some there are procedural deficiencies and some common information about overboard accidents were incorrect. In addition, many procedures, equipment and training issues that are open to improvement have been identified and even some suggestions have been made. As a result of bringing together all these studies and data, an important source has been created about the man overboard accident. In addition to all the data obtained within the thesis study, a procedural proposal and an autonomous emergency response system proposal were made at the end of the study. The procedural proposal concerns another seafarer entering the water to save a man overboard casualty. Equipment proposal, on the other hand, is an emergency response system that automatically performs some of the response actions that must be performed after the overboard accident and assists in other stages of the response. In summary, this thesis study, besides providing detailed information about overboard accidents, makes an equipment proposal and a procedure proposal as the main output of the study. These recommendations aim to optimize the outcome of overboard accidents.