By
Alex Smith |
SMM, the biannual maritime trade fair, has returned to Hamburg for 2024, bringing together decision-makers and professionals from across the maritime industry.
Over 2,000 exhibitors are attending the event, showcasing their latest products and services to visitors across 11 exhibition halls. A particular focus among this year’s exhibitors is the latest innovations in maritime safety, with a range of new products being displayed on the event floor.
Zelim, a Scotland-based sea survival company, unveiled the world’s first unmanned man overboard rescue vessel at the show. Guardian is designed to be rapidly deployed from a ship to recover both conscious and unconscious overboard casualties and can operate in conditions that manned recovery solutions would find challenging or too dangerous to operate in. The vessel is capable of sailing at over 30 knots towards the casualty, with a 15 nautical mile range and six-hour operating time. Once it reaches the casualty, it uses Zelim’s Swift rescue conveyer to recover up to two casualties from the water simultaneously, with a maximum capacity for 11 survivors.
As part of the development for Guardian, Zelim also created Zoe, a new software tool capable of providing instant detection and alerting of people and objects that enter a field of view. Zoe can also differentiate between a human in the water and other objects such as buoys, flotsam and jetsam. The tool is available separately from Guardian, as well as being integrated into the vessel.
Meanwhile, Wescom Group revealed its new range of commercial distress beacons in the British Pavilion at SMM. The sMRT V300 distress beacon is able to automatically alert nearby vessels in a man overboard situation, as well as engaging GPS and Galileo satellites to provide accurate location information. The sMRT AU11 beacon will feature similar capabilities but with a ruggedised design built for the harshest conditions. Finally, the sMRT Digital SARfinder is a mounted base unit that can detect, display and track the location of an unlimited number of 121.5-megahertz beacons within a five-mile radius. The unit emits an audible alarm as soon as a man overboard incident is detected and a direction-bearing compass to help users locate the casualty.
Wescom Group will also promote ANP Pharma, a recently acquired pharmaceutical distributor, at SMM. ANP Pharma will now sell its life-raft and lifeboat first aid kits through Wescom Group’s existing regional distribution network, while continuing to provide its worldwide medical centre pharmaceutical and medical consumables supply service.
Survitec is introducing a new rental and exchange service to ensure ship operators always have fully serviced and certified immersion suits onboard. SuitXChange will offer two suits from its brands Hansen Protection and Crewsaver, which will replace suits due for certification as soon as a vessel enters port. This will ensure that suits are always compliant while reducing the transportation and costs required for replacements. The Crewsaver Edurance immersion suit will be available for a six-year rental programme and will be exchanged every three years, while the SuitXChange+ programme will offer the Hansen Protection SeaEco+ suit, certified for use without a lifejacket.
SMM is taking place between 3-6 September at Hamburg Messe und Congress in Hamburg, Germany.