Citation: Ho, W.-C.; Shen, J.-H.; Liu,
C.-P.; Chen, Y.-W. Research on
Optimal Model of Maritime Search
and Rescue Route for Rescue of
Multiple Distress Targets. J. Mar. Sci.
Eng. 2022, 10, 460. https://doi.org/
10.3390/jmse10040460
Academic Editor: Sergei Chernyi
Received: 22 February 2022
Accepted: 22 March 2022
Published: 24 March 2022
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Journal of
Marine Science
and Engineering
Article
Research on Optimal Model of Maritime Search and Rescue
Route for Rescue of Multiple Distress Targets
Wen-Chih Ho
1
, Jian-Hung Shen
1
, Chung-Ping Liu
2,
* and Yung-Wei Chen
1
1
Department of Marine Engineering, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung City 202301, Taiwan;
20766003@email.ntou.edu.tw (W.-C.H.); 20666006@email.ntou.edu.tw (J.-H.S.);
cyw0710@ntou.edu.tw (Y.-W.C.)
2
Department of Merchant Marine, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung City 202301, Taiwan
* Correspondence: ntouimt@email.ntou.edu.tw; Tel.: +886-2-24622192
Abstract:
Coastal countries began to develop green energy, and offshore wind power equipment in
coastal areas was gradually built. Since coastal wind power generation often requires carrying out
maintenance between wind turbines with the assistance of service operation vessels, this situation
may cause coastal areas to be prone to people falling into the water. However, traditional maritime
search and rescue plans take a long time to gather information from man overboard incidents. In
order to minimize injuries to people in distress, the maritime search and rescue process must be as
short as possible. Despite that all the search and rescue plans are based on the concept of the shortest
path, the efficient plans must not only consider the distance but also consider the cost of search
and rescue. Therefore, this study established a set of practices applicable to the on-site commander
(OSC) to dispatch rescue ships, as well as the planning of maritime search and rescue route models.
Based on the easy-to-observe state of the target in distress, the model is analyzed and calculated by
Floyd–Warshall algorithm and Grey relational analysis so as to sort the rescue plan and optimize
the effect of the search and rescue route at sea. According to the simulation analysis, when the man
overboard incident occurs in the coastal area, the OSC can immediately use this model to plan the
best search and rescue route and dispatch a reasonable number of rescue ships.
Keywords: maritime search and rescue; coastal countries; rescue ships; distress targets
1. Introduction
Offshore wind power is an energy that does not emit pollutants. Some coastal countries
have begun to build a large number of offshore wind power plants to develop green
energy [1,2]. With related wind power facilities being widely constructed, the importance
of maritime search and rescue operations is more emphasized by coastal countries. Still,
research in respect of applicable search and rescue routes for wind farm personnel falling
water incidents has not been proposed. A personnel falling water incident is an emergency
in which a person (crew or passenger) of a vessel at sea falls into the sea. This incident is
one of the most common main causes of endangering the lives and safety of ship personnel
at sea, particularly in large ships with slow sailing speeds, or in small ships with few
personnel [
3
]. Under such circumstances, the vessel is built with a high risk and less
protection of life and the property and environment regarding the personnel.
A maritime search and rescue operation provides reliable assistance to people in
danger or at a potential risk at sea. Traditional maritime search and rescue uses factors,
such as time gap, leeway, tide or currents, and swell of the distress target, to set the search
datum point. The on-scene commander (OSC) uses these data to evaluate and subsequently
plan a maritime search and rescue; meanwhile, it is in accordance with the international
maritime organization search and rescue (IMOSAR Manual) specifications [
4
,
5
]. However,
traditional search and rescue route plans require to go through the steps of spending and
collecting a large amount of time and data, and then move on to the next discussion. The
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10, 460. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10040460 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jmse
