The sea can be a dangerous place. Every coast is lined with shoals, rocks, reefs and other hazards to safe navigation. In the U.S. alone, the Coast Guard receives 25,000 distress calls each year. With a sudden change of weather, the sparkling blue of ocean waters can become a no-man’s-land of immense winds, mountainous seas and driving rain or snow.
Since the time of the iceberg-doomed Titanic, ships in distress have relied on radio to alert other ships and request assistance. Therefore, seafaring nations joined forces in 1979 to establish the International Maritime Satellite Organization (IMO) and create a global communications system for maritime safety.
It is also why in May 2018 Iridium, the global Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) company, gained the IMO’s recognition as a provider of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services to vessels at sea.
This whitepaper will explore the three important factors to next generation maritime safety.