Comment by codetrotter | Hacker News Reader

Comment by codetrotter | Hacker News Reader

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Someone on Reddit suggested that if you see someone fall over board, one group of people should keep their eyes 100% on where the person is, not looking away for even a split second. Meanwhile, another group of people should start throwing things over board. The moar things floating in the water close to where the person fell over board the better. Those items can help improve chances of finding the spot where the person was lost, and also the items might float in the currents in similar directions that the person might.

Someone also pointed out that often times there are a lot of fishes following the ship, and sometimes even sharks! If they are unlucky there might be sharks in the water :(

So when someone falls overboard the ship could auto deploy floating devices and a trail of floating signal lights/markers. It could also mark the exact GPS spot and alert the crew. After that they could mount a rescue.

The hardest part would be detecting that its a person who's fallen overboard.

You could have people carry devices that trigger the alarm when they get wet and are a certain distance from the deck or use optical sensors - though I think they'd fail more often, especiallyat night.

In a perfect world the detection system would launch a net and cast the person before they hit the water

The problem is that all these things cost a fuck load of money and in this industry if something isn't made mandatory by law it's going to be skipped

When I was doing my sailing license one of the mandatory training thing was a 'person overboard' maneuver. And the very first thing you do is to designate someone from the crew to point (with a finger and arm extended) and look at the person in the water at all times

The throw stuff over and point is basic training in all seamanship courses.

A boat as big and fast as a cruiseship generally won't have fish following it though. It would take a LOT of energy to maintain that pace.

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