Securing Lives at Sea with Intelligent Positioning Technology
Combain’s advanced indoor positioning technologies, combined with LifeFinder’s intelligent maritime safety alerts, are transforming crew safety and operational efficiency in maritime environments. Utilizing real-time location tracking and automated emergency detection, this innovative solution significantly enhances crew safety, reduces response times, and minimizes costly incidents at sea.
Common maritime challenges, including onboard fires, man-overboard incidents, and emergency response delays, pose serious risks to both lives and valuable assets. Combain and LifeFinder’s comprehensive solution provides precise crew tracking, ensures rapid accountability, and delivers tangible economic benefits through reduced risks and operational downtime.
Crew Safety and Emergency Response
Reducing risks, Protecting Lives and Minimizing Costs
Rapidly locating and accounting for crew members during maritime emergencies is a persistent challenge, especially in large vessels with critical visibility and response times. Delays can escalate incidents, risking crew safety and operational continuity.
Equipping crew members with intelligent wearable devices featuring precise indoor positioning, sensor detection, and an automated tracking and alert system provides real-time personnel and environmental hazards visibility. This solution enables rapid emergency response, significantly improving safety outcomes and minimizing operational disruptions and costs.
Real-World Scenario
A maritime company operating large cargo vessels frequently encounters challenges during onboard emergencies, such as fires, fall incidents, or man-overboard situations. In the event of a fire, crew members can be challenging to locate quickly, causing critical delays in response and increased safety risks.
After implementing an advanced AI indoor positioning and automated alert system, the company can immediately pinpoint crew locations during emergencies, with proven reduced response times from over 30 minutes to just 5-10 minutes.
Industry Insights
According to the European Maritime Safety Agency, there were 26,595 marine incidents reported between 2014 and 2023, averaging approximately 2,660 incidents annually. Of these, 650 lives were lost in 444 incidents, with nearly 90% of victims being crew members (EMSA, 2024)
In a typical large vessel emergency, locating crew members without advanced positioning can take over 30 minutes. With Combain and LifeFinder’s advanced indoor positioning and automated alert system, this time can be reduced to just 5 to 10 minutes, achieving an up to 83% reduction in emergency response time.
Cargo fires have increased frequently in recent years, with potential cargo loss per incident ranging from USD 1 million to USD 1 billion (Lloyd’s Register OneOcean, 2024). Ensuring rapid personnel accountability allows for the timely deployment of fire suppression systems, preventing catastrophic damage to vessels and cargo.
Intelligent Alert System & Multiple Sensor Detection
Ensuring rapid response and Rescue
According to the European Maritime Safety Agency, slipping, stumbling, and falls were the leading causes of fatalities and injuries among crew members from 2014 to 2023 (EMSA, 2024).
The LifeFinder wearable device provides critical protection in these scenarios. If a crew member falls overboard or stumbles and falls inside the vessel, the device instantly detects the fall, triggers an automated alert, and transmits real-time GPS coordinates. This ensures rapid, precise tracking and significantly improves the likelihood of successful rescue operations.
The Solution
A Technology Breakdown
The LifeFinder system with Combains manual indoor positioning is an advanced maritime safety system that provides real-time tracking, automated emergency alerts, and precise indoor positioning to protect crew members on large vessels. Integrating LifeFinder’s intelligent alert system with Combain’s indoor positioning technology ensures fast response times, improved crew safety, and enhanced emergency management in maritime environments where GPS and traditional communication systems often fail.
technology Breakdown
LifeFinder System & Wearable Devices:
- Intelligent Alert System
Advanced safety tech platform consisting of sensors and systems. - Multiple Sensor Detection
Water, movement, gas, temperature, fall detection, configured to customer needs. - Resilient Communication Technology
Works where GSM & WiFi fail - Resilient Communication Technology
- Up to 5 Year Battery Life Sensors
Designed for extreme environments. - Scalable Platform
Infrastructure in Place - Multiple functions
Emergency Crew Locator, Alarm, and Positioning. - Communication with existing alarm systems.
Combain Indoor Positioning – integrated into the Lifefinder System:
- Precise Accuracy indoor
Works where GPS fails, such as enclosed ship interiors and cargo decks. - Utilizes WiFi, GPS & positioning beacons for precise positioning.
- On-Prem Server Deployment
Unlike cloud-dependent solutions, Combain’s on-premise server ensures uninterrupted functionality even in low-connectivity environments.
The Business Case for Real-Time Safety Solutions in Complex Environments
Implementing real-time positioning and intelligent alert systems in maritime operations is not just a safety upgrade; it’s a strategic investment. This technology delivers measurable value, including:
- Up to 83% reduction in emergency response time, enabling faster crew accountability and life-saving action.
- Dramatic reduction in cargo loss and operational downtime, potentially saving millions of dollars per incident.
- Significant ROI from reduced injury risks, especially in slip, trip, and fall scenarios—the leading cause of maritime crew casualties.
Beyond the numbers, this solution is about saving money and lives. It enhances crew protection, ensures regulatory compliance, and empowers safer, more innovative vessel operations.
As maritime environments grow more complex and risk-sensitive, investing in advanced safety systems like LifeFinder and Combain ensures operational resilience and long-term value.
Moreover, other complex indoor environments, such as mines, tunnels, and industrial facilities, can also benefit from AI-powered indoor positioning, making this technology a scalable safety and efficiency solution across high-risk industries.
Next Steps
To get started, contact us to schedule a consultation. Learn how real-time crew tracking and intelligent safety alerts can help you save money and lives at sea, or in any other complex environment.
Automatic fall detection and precise crew positioning ensure immediate alerts and rapid response, maximizing safety and minimizing rescue time.
Advanced AI algorithms enable accurrate positiong in GPS-denied environments like ship interiors, ensuring reliable crew tracking where traditional systems fail.
Flexible and cost-effective crew safety solution using Bluetooth, WiFi, and AI-powered indoor positioning. Easily integrates with existing vessel alarm and safety systems, no need for extensive retrofitting or major infrastructure changes.
Operates fully on-premise, ensuring uninterrupted performance in low-connectivity environments and eliminating cloud dependency
Project considerations
Use long-life, battery-powered wearable tracking devices for crew
Leverage existing onboard WiFi and Bluetooth infrastructure.
Wearables can be configured to detect falls, motion, temperature, gas, or other custom parameters
Works seamlessly in complex indoor vessel environments where GPS fails
Provides 3D positioning with building, deck, and room-level accuracy
Supports on-premise deployment for full functionality in offline conditions