Reliable communication at sea

Previously, AS Bolaks used mobile phones to try and communicate across their operation. However, regular smartphone devices were not reliable in the often challenging working conditions, which is problematic in the case of an emergency, for example if a staff member were to fall in the water.

Furthermore, mobile phones have a relatively slow response time to initiate a call. This was an issue as many employees often sail alone on the sea and require instant communications for safety and wellbeing. In the event of an accident, unreliable or delayed communications could have fatal consequences.

The implementation of Hytera radios gave the employees at AS Bolaks an obvious operational advantage with instant collaboration as well as an improved sense of security, as it became possible for the employees to contact their co-workers within seconds. At the same time, the employees now have a perfect digital signal that gives them a clear sound no matter where they are within the coverage area. Moreover, the Hytera radio is waterproof IP67 and has an automatic lone worker alarm setting that pre-alarms every 20 minutes to ensure the worker is still active, moving to a full emergency alert if there is no response on the device.

In addition, Ebutikken developed a small water sensor for both fresh and salt water which generates an alarm when submersed in a man overboard incident. The final Hytera PD785G solution ensures that the workforce are always connected and the additional safety features offer peace of mind through automation, improving incidence response rates were a co-worker to get in to trouble.