Offshore staff

SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS, France –The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) plan to deploy Techno-Sciences Inc.’s (TSi’s) next-generation satellite-aided search and rescue (SAR) systems.

The Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) installations will be the first such systems in Asia Pacific, and are designed to reduce the time between a distress beacon activation and the resulting emergency alert notification.

The deal, which exceeds €13 million ($17 million), includes a six-antenna MEOSAR satellite ground station system in each country; a common mission control center in Canberra, Australia; and associated support and maintenance. Installation is scheduled to start in September and is expected to take 15 months. The installation phase will be followed by a 10-year maintenance period.

“Australia has the second largest number of registered distress beacons in the world,” says AMSA CEO Mick Kinley. “The MEOSAR system will allow us to detect and respond to beacon activations in a more timely manner.”

MNZ Director Keith Manch adds, “The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) has a very challenging task operating over a vast search and rescue area. We are confident in TSi’s abilities to design, develop, and install a MEOSAR system that will be at the center of our search and rescue operations in years to come.”

09/05/2014