Emergency management at sea: A decision support system for Search and Rescue operations

Abstract

The relevance of Search and Rescue (SAR) maritime operations has been recently emphasized by the increasing migrations by sea. In the Mediterranean area, for example, a number of boats, often crowded, bad equipped and driven by non-professional sailors, travel from the coasts of Africa and Middle East to the ones of Europe: the wideness of the phenomenon and the occurrence of several mournful events have pushed the Italian government and the European Union to conduct large security operations (e.g. Mare Nostrum and Triton). Therefore, it has become urgent to support Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers and Sub-Centers and provide them with a Decision Support System (DSS) for planning and managing SAR operations at sea. This paper illustrates the background and the research methodology of the research project called "Decision support system for maritime environment emergency management".