Marine electronics specialist, Simrad, has announced its collaboration with the NGO Open Arms, a project dedicated to the surveillance and rescue for people in need of assistance in the Aegean and Central Mediterranean.
To support and assist Open Arms in developing its work at sea, Simrad has recently equipped the project’s 36m sailing boat, Astral, with the Halo24 pulse compression radar, NSS evo3 12 chartplotters and IS42 digital displays. In addition, its RIB, Gomona, was updated with a Simrad NSS evo3 7 chartplotter, VHF RS20S radio and AIS class B NAIS 500 transponder.
Pascual Román, Country Manager at Navico Iberia, says: “We are proud to be able to help Open Arms save lives by equipping their vessels with advanced technology that allows them to carry out their mission with greater safety and efficiency.”
Simrad’s technology is integral to aiding Astral in its mission to monitor and survey international waters to recover boats in danger of people fleeing by sea. Since 1970, Astral has helped save over 15,000 lives.
The Halo24 radar is particularly important in the project’s efforts, providing short, medium and long-distance detection. The Halo24’s Dual Range mode enables the Astral captain to monitor two distance ranges at once, allowing him to monitor targets at close range while keeping track of long-range weather fronts.
“The Open Arms ship fleet is equipped with the best technology, which is why we can navigate safely and can search for vessels in distress,” says Gerard Canals, Head of Operations at Open Arms. “Thanks to Simrad, we have been able to improve the Astral‘s electronics equipment and some of the RIBs’.”