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Maritime Search and Rescue (MSAR) Operations: An Analysis of Optimal Asset Allocation

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Modeling, Dynamics, Optimization and Bioeconomics II (DGS 2014)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics ((PROMS,volume 195))

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Abstract

Managing sea rescue assets and their distribution in the various search and rescue (SAR) locations should be carried out according to some well-defined criteria in order to cover SAR areas of the world properly. In this chapter, we intend to give a comparative literature review of maritime search and rescue (MSAR) operations with more emphasis on asset allocation. A framework of a new approach that aims to locate SAR stations and allocate SAR assets to the stations is introduced to the MSAR literature that takes into account the traffic density of sea and air roads over an SAR responsibility area. The model itself is not covered within this book chapter, but instead its main features are discussed and the differences and novelties with respect to the modeling approaches generally used in the literature are presented.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The wind speed by itself is a key factor to generate surface waves and currents. Surface currents can be estimated to be approximately 2% of the wind speed when navigating close to the shore. The single affect of the wind over sea currents is itself a research area in the SAR literature [8] and will not be addressed here.

  2. 2.

    The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) [11] is the international radio safety system mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for vessels at sea. The GMDSS was implemented on February 1, 1999 through amendments to the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Convention. The main aim of GMDSS is to organize and improve emergency communications for the world’s shipping industry.

  3. 3.

    A search plan is the method that SAR assets will use in the SAR area. Various types of search plans are introduced to the literature so far, but the one that attracts most of the attention is the CASP (The United States Coast Guard Computer Assisted Search Planning System) [30]. The CASP methodology is mainly based upon Monte Carlo simulation to obtain an initial probability distribution for target location and to update this distribution to account for drift due to currents and winds.

  4. 4.

    The Sea Roads: These roads are invisible to notice at sea, but followed by most of the sailors, since they provide the shortest distance between departing and last port of calls. Most of the navigation charts does not include them unless you are sailing under a regulated straight or a narrow channel.

  5. 5.

    The Air Roads: These roads are invisible to notice in the air, but followed by all of the civilian pilots, since there is a multinational convention (Convention on International Civil Aviation by International Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN), 1944, Paris) regulating the air safety. All of the aviation charts include them and, it is mandatory for civilian aircrafts to follow these air roads.

  6. 6.

    i.e., the traffic density rate of sea and air roads in the ith station SAR responsibility area. (It is the rate of ships and aircraft in the area per hour). Arrival of the ships and aircraft is assumed to be a Poisson process. It is assumed that an aircraft/ship can use either side of their route within a 5 NM buffer zone. These 10 NM-width areas along the routes are assumed to be subject to the highest risk of an air/sea accident. In short, not every part of the SAR area has the same probability of accident occurance.

  7. 7.

    Area coverage factor of a single rescue ship, a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft: A rescue ship is assumed to have 25kts. (nautical miles per hour) permanent cruise speed and a 2 NM-radius detection range. In an hour, a ship will sail 25 NM and will cover a 4 NM-width rectangle area, which equals 100 NM\(^2\).

    A rescue helicopter is assumed to have 90kts. permanent speed and a 5 NM-radius detection range. In an hour, a helicopter will fly 90 NM and will cover a 10 NM-width rectangle area, which equals 900 NM\(^2\).

    A rescue fixed wing aircraft is assumed to have 200kts. permanent speed and a 5 NM-radius detection range. In an hour, a fixed wing aircraft will fly 200 NM and will cover a 10 NM-width rectangle area, which equals 2,000 NM\(^2\).

  8. 8.

    Proportion of SAR responsibility area subject to the air/sea roads are used to differentiate the importance of the SAR areas under concern.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, Middle East Technical University, 06531, Ankara, Turkey

    Erhan Akbayrak & Mustafa Kemal Tural

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  1. Erhan Akbayrak
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  2. Mustafa Kemal Tural
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Correspondence to Erhan Akbayrak .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and LIAAD-INESC TEC, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Alberto A. Pinto

  2. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

    David Zilberman

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Akbayrak, E., Tural, M.K. (2017). Maritime Search and Rescue (MSAR) Operations: An Analysis of Optimal Asset Allocation. In: Pinto, A., Zilberman, D. (eds) Modeling, Dynamics, Optimization and Bioeconomics II. DGS 2014. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 195. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55236-1_2

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