Cruise strains not often make headlines for security innovation, however Ambassador Cruise Line hopes to alter that.
Whereas the corporate’s identify may not ring a bell, its new AI-powered “man overboard” system tackles a security situation everybody understands: a person overboard state of affairs.
Ambassador’s ship Ambition is now geared up with ZOE, a complicated synthetic intelligence know-how designed to immediately detect, observe, and pinpoint anybody who falls overboard, taking rescues at sea to a brand new stage.
Ambition is now the testbed for this security measure within the cruise trade, which hopes to dramatically enhance response occasions throughout uncommon however harmful man overboard (MOB) conditions.
“With the protection of our passengers and crew our foremost concern, we had been eager to place ZOE onboard,” mentioned Nick Hughes, Chief Working Officer at Ambassador Cruise Line. “ZOE offers our passengers and crew peace of thoughts that within the uncommon occasion of a MOB incident, bridge groups are instantly alerted and may observe the individual till rescue.
Actual-Time Overboard Monitoring
Not like most techniques that detect solely a fall, ZOE goes additional—constantly monitoring the individual within the water and offering exact geo-location information to assist crews mount sooner, extra focused rescues.
“With out steady monitoring, a drifting individual can shortly disappear from view,” mentioned Doug Lothian, Chief Know-how Officer at Zelim. “ZOE doesn’t simply alert the crew. It follows the individual within the water, even in darkness or tough seas, giving rescuers real-time coordinates.”
In response to Zelim, the know-how is being examined to satisfy worldwide security requirements (ISO 21195) and has already handed early certification levels with a 98% detection price.
A former crew member defined, “Methods that detect when somebody goes overboard aren’t new, however many cruise strains keep away from utilizing them because of frequent false alarms—like a towel blowing off the ship triggering the alert. Nonetheless, implementing these techniques is certainly progress.”
Extra Than Simply Man Overboard Detection
ZOE’s capabilities lengthen past man-overboard conditions. Onboard Ambition additionally consists of forward-facing cameras to detect hard-to-spot objects within the water—from floating particles to small boats—including an additional layer of safety for the vessel and one other eye for the navigational bridge staff.
“It not solely helps us reply shortly in emergencies,” mentioned Hughes, “but in addition offers our watchkeepers higher visibility of potential navigational hazards.”
The good man overboard detection system first rolled out on oil rigs within the North Sea final 12 months.
A spokesperson for the Cruise Line Worldwide Affiliation (CLIA) informed Cruise Radio, “Tragic accidents are exceedingly uncommon primarily based on information tracked by CLIA. Even one incident is one too many—and railings are designed to forestall individuals from accidents. This can be very uncommon for somebody to go overboard or for accidents to happen from balconies (on common, the incent price over the 11-year interval from 2009 to 2019 is 0.0004).”
The cruise trade noticed 19-man overboard occasions in 2024.