Lifesaving marina system wins Marinas22 Innovation Showcase
The Man Overboard Marina Alarm System has take first place in the Marinas22 Innovation Showcase. It was selected in a live poll from over 150 delegates, beating new products from IADYS, Sucoil, Seavolt and The Serial Cleaners.
Five companies delivered a brief presentation on their product, as part of the Marinas22 International Conference & Trade Exhibition.
The Man Overboard Marina Alarm System was created to mitigate the risk of drownings due the difficulty of egress from the water on to a pontoon without a ladder. This system enables the casualty to pull a cord under the pontoon deck which sounds an audible alarm, as well as notifying marina management of the location of the person in distress.
“The Man Overboard System was conceived after a near drowning incident in a marina where my boat is moored,” says creator Paul Williams. “A woman had fallen into the marina late at night, by the time her cries for help were heard she was suffering serious hyperthermia as well as other injuries. I went home that night and came up with a solution that has consumed my life ever since.”
Williams has since saved a second life when an elderly man drove his mobility scooter off the edge of the marina at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron earlier this year.
“Thankfully we had installed the Man Overboard System in 2020,” says club general manager, Matt Solly. “As soon as the alarm sounded, we had people dispatched to the location, but by the time my staff arrived, people on surrounding boats had been alerted and the gentleman had been rescued.”
Four of the five products were environmental initiatives. These included the Jellyfishbot, presented by Cyril Castello of IADYS, an on-water robot, which collects solid and liquid waste floating on the water surface.
