Man Overboard Marina Alarm Systems – Drowning Prevention Technology

In response to alarming fatalities in marinas worldwide, MOMAS design confronts the false sense of security that marinas frequently offer. Accidental falls into water, worsened by factors like tide flow; water depth, and water temperature, pose grave risks. With increased access, alcohol, and an aging boat owner demographic (averaging 60), traditional safety gear (life rings and ladders) falls short. Our system empowers a person in the water to signal for immediate help, providing precise location information to marina staff. This enables rapid response times to assist those in trouble in the water, ensuring the safety of marina visitors and staff.

In 2018, a near-fatal incident at a marina where Paul moored his boat highlighted the need to enable people in the water to signal for help. That catalyst sparked Paul’s journey to improve marina safety. He considered a pull-cord system could form part of the marina safety solution. Setting up a timber structure to mimic a marina platform, the first prototype was built. In 2019, Man Overboard Marina Alarm Systems was founded. Collaborating with a local technology company to convey the alarm pulled at the water’s edge to targeted people, a trial area was set up at a local marina.

Commercially, our innovative safety system assists marinas to mitigate risks and addresses a critical market need. Marinas can now choose to offer marina users safer marine experiences, by adding our system to new or existing marina platforms. The system utilises solar power energy and future use of recycled plastic will be investigated. In addition to far-reaching societal benefits of reduced preventable injuries and loss of lives, our product aims to foster a culture of safety among marina operators. It may also reduce the societal economic burden of drowning victims, estimated to be approximately $3.2M per person (Royal Life Saving Society).

Chances of survival after an accidental fall into the water at a marinas edge are greatly increased when someone notices and assists the person who is in trouble. Wherever the Man Overboard Marina Alarm System is installed, our brightly coloured dock alarms are fitted with a Duress Button for any on-dock emergencies and can be activated by a person in the water needing help. Our system is within easy reach of a person in the water who is able to get to the dock’s edge. A pull on the high-visibility marina-grade safety rope activates a nearby switch, sending a wireless signal to a local Dock Alarm. Our Dock Alarms’ audible siren and strobe light alerts those in the immediate vicinity. Text messages, emails, and App notifications are automatically sent to up to 6 people (who are pre-programmed into the marina’s system, e.g. marina management, staff, Liveaboards, or security), clearly informing recipients of where on the marina the alarm has been raised by reference to the marina name, arm or row, and berth numbers. Monitoring makes cascading phone calls to the marina contacts. If no-one is able to investigate, monitoring will contact emergency services to request an investigation.