Inditex sponsors safety suit for fishermen
21/11/2012
Global clothing group Inditex, parent company of Zara, sponsored the project and hosted a launch event for the system, Safe to Sea, at its headquarters in A Coruña in mid-November.
Clothing in the system comprises easy-to-use, ergonomic gear including a special exposure suit to allow fishermen to do their work unimpeded. It is the result of six years’ research and development by Scio IT, in conjunction with the universities of A Coruña and Vigo. It is designed for use on any type of ship, fishing boat or leisure craft.
According to the company, the system will prove especially useful for the crews of small fishing boats, which account for 90% of ‘man overboard’ incidents due to the type of work they perform. At the launch event, Jaime Casals, Scio IT’s chief executive, said: “Safe to Sea is designed for use by boats that account for 80% of Spain’s fishing fleet, small vessels with few crew-members, on which fishermen sometimes choose not to use safety gear because it gets in the way of their ability to do their jobs.”
An integrated device on the ship’s control panel constantly monitors the electronic sensor system inside the suit worn by each crew-member. The sensor can also be fitted to a belt. This personal electronic system sends an alarm signal when a crewmember falls overboard. It also triggers automatic inflation of a life vest within two seconds to keep the sailor afloat until he can be rescued.
As soon as the crew-member goes overboard, the ship’s control panel guides the crew to his exact location. If there is no other crew-member onboard the vessel, the system automatically issues an alert over integrated VHF radio to nearby ships and ocean rescue authorities.
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