Building a real-time safety platform to detect man overboard incidents
How codefit helped an innovative maritime technology company transform an ambitious safety concept into a working hardware-software platform capable of detecting man overboard incidents, locating crew members and supporting faster emergency response onboard specialist vessels.
Turning an unproven safety concept into a working onboard platform
DIMEQ entered the project with an ambitious objective: use emerging radio and tracking technologies to improve crew safety and detect man overboard incidents faster. The concept required a completely new combination of hardware, software, algorithms and onboard infrastructure – without an established implementation model to follow.
The Challenge
Man overboard incidents remain one of the most serious risks in specialist and offshore maritime operations. Existing procedures often depend on visual detection, manual communication and delayed identification of who is missing and where the incident occurred. rnrnrnThe technical challenge was equally complex. Radio signals behave differently around steel structures, water, changing weather conditions and vessel infrastructure. A solution that worked in an office or laboratory could produce very different results onboard.
Solutions
codefit worked with DIMEQ and a specialized hardware partner to design and iteratively develop a connected safety platform. The system combines wearable devices, radio infrastructure, onboard location tracking, alarm workflows and a bridge application showing who is onboard, where crew members are located and when a potential incident occurs.
Results
The platform successfully passed onboard proof-of-concept tests and demonstrated that the complete hardware-software ecosystem could detect simulated man overboard incidents and alert the bridge within the target response window. rnThe project created a repeatable foundation for further pilots, commercialization and development of additional emergency-management capabilities. rn
Key project requirements
The project needed to combine safety-critical functionality with a commercially viable and repeatable architecture. The solution had to operate under difficult maritime conditions, integrate custom hardware and deliver reliable information quickly enough to support real emergency decisions.
Man Overboard Detection (MOB)
Detect a potential person-overboard event and notify the bridge as quickly as possible.
Pain Point
- Target detection within approximately 10 seconds
- Identification of the missing person
- Approximate incident location
Real-time crew visibility
Provide an operational picture of crew presence in selected onboard areas.
Pain Point
- Location tracking in designated zones
- Visibility for bridge officers
- Support during emergency procedures
Maritime environment resilience
Operate in an environment shaped by steel structures, water, radio interference and changing weather conditions.
Pain Point
- Signal behavior around steel compartments
- Resistance to environmental interference
- Validation in real vessel conditions
Hardware-software-integration
Connect newly developed hardware with a custom digital platform.
Pain Point
- Wearable devices
- Radio infrastructure
- Onboard communication components
Limited infrastructure usage
Work within strict constraints related to bandwidth, packet size and available processing power
Pain Point
- Efficient data transmission
- Optimized onboard computation
- Low-level performance control
Commercial scalability
Create a solution that can evolve from a PoC into a repeatable product for larger maritime organizations.
Pain Point
- Repeatable deployment architecture
- Support for different vessel types
- Affordable implementation mode
Developing a safety-critical product without a proven blueprint
The business objective was clear – improve crew safety and support faster emergency response. The route to achieving it, however, was undefined. The project required experimentation across technology, hardware, user experience and onboard operations.
Detect man overboard incidents faster
The bridge needed immediate information that an incident had occurred, who was involved and where the person was last detected.
Pain Point
- Reduce detection time
- Improve situational awareness
- Support faster rescue decisions
Improve emergency visibility
During fires, evacuation procedures and other critical events, officers need to know how many people remain in specific zones.
Pain Point
- Track crew presence in safety-critical areas
- Support emergency coordination
- Reduce uncertainty during incidents
Build a commercially viable product
The solution needed to work without requiring infrastructure investments so extensive that the business model would become unviable.
Pain Point
- Control deployment costs
- Create a repeatable architecture
- Support future commercialization
Overcome environmental uncertainty
Radio behavior was affected by steel construction, water, reflections, weather and the physical layout of each vessel.
Pain Point
- Validate assumptions onboard
- Adapt algorithms and infrastructure
- Prepare alternative technical scenarios
Integrate new hardware and software
The full platform had to be developed almost entirely from the ground up
Pain Point
- Custom hardware communication
- New digital platform
- Low-level system integration
Balance safety and privacy
Crew tracking improves safety, but it also creates legitimate concerns about employee monitoring and data usage.
Pain Point
- Define tracking zones and scenarios
- Focus data usage on safety
- Support transparent organizational policies
R&D means solving the problem, not just completing tickets
This project required a fundamentally different delivery mindset. The team could not rely on an established specification or simply implement tasks from a backlog. Every major assumption had to be tested, questioned and sometimes rejected.
The most significant lesson came from the difference between laboratory conditions and the real vessel environment. Concepts that worked in the office sometimes failed onboard because steel structures, water, weather and vessel layout changed signal behavior.
codefit’s team therefore prepared alternative scenarios, collected live data and adapted the solution directly during onboard testing. In retrospect, more frequent vessel visits would have reduced time spent developing concepts that could not be fully validated from shore.
“In projects like this, you are not simply delivering software. You are continuously confronting assumptions with the physical reality of the vessel and redesigning the solution based on what the environment tells you.
How we turned R&D uncertainty into a testable product
Define the safety objective
Before development began, codefit and DIMEQ held an extended discovery and brainstorming phase to align the business vision, safety scenarios, technical limitations and expected response times.
Understand the hardware
The team invested significant effort in understanding the radio technology, hardware behavior and realistic capabilities of the physical components.
Design the User experience
Early interface concepts were developed for bridge officers and technical users, focusing on clear alarms, vessel maps and fast access to crew-location information.
Build an integrated prototype
codefit created the software platform and connected it with custom-developed hardware, onboard sensors and communication components.
Test in simulated maritime conditions
The team searched for environments with large amounts of steel and other vessel-like characteristics to recreate some of the expected signal behavior before shipboard testing.
Validate onboard
The system was installed and tested on real vessels. Signal behavior, detection accuracy, environmental interference and operational usability were evaluated in real conditions.
A new foundation for connected onboard safety
The project enabled DIMEQ to move from a high-level concept to a functioning safety platform tested in real maritime environments. The system demonstrated that wearable devices, radio infrastructure, onboard software and bridge workflows could be connected into one operational solution. rnFor bridge teams, the platform creates greater visibility into crew presence and potential incidents. For crew members, it offers the possibility of faster detection and assistance during man overboard events and other emergencies.
From DIMEQ’s business perspective, the project produced a product foundation that can be presented, piloted and developed further for specialist vessel operators and other maritime markets.
The solution connects wearable devices, onboard radio infrastructure and custom software into one platform supporting incident detection, crew visibility and emergency coordination.
Man Overboard Detection (MOB)
The platform detects defined MOB events and sends an alert to bridge officers with information about the person and incident location.
Live vessel map
Bridge teams can view vessel decks and the current or last-known location of crew members within monitored zones.
Visual and audio alarms
Critical events trigger clear visual and sound notifications to support rapid response.
Crew tracking
Wearable devices provide information about crew presence in selected onboard areas.
Configuration dashboard
Authorized technical users can configure crew data, devices, zones and operational parameters.
Muster station support
The system can help verify which crew members have reached their assigned muster stations during general alarms or evacuation scenarios.
Onboard presence monitoring
When a vessel is in port, the system can support automatic visibility into who remains onboard and who is ashore.
Custom API
The newly developed platform includes its own API and can support future integration with other onboard systems.
Hardware integration
The solution communicates with specialized radio and tracking components developed for the project.
Low-level performance optimization
Software and data transmission were optimized around limited bandwidth, packet sizes and onboard computing resources.
Key experience indicators
Bridge situational awareness
Officers gain a clearer view of who is onboard, where crew members are located and whether an emergency alert has been triggered.
Faster emergency recognition
Automated detection reduces reliance on visual observation and manual reporting of potential incidents.
Crew confidence
When communicated transparently and used appropriately, the system can strengthen the crew’s sense of safety onboard.
Emergency coordination
Location data can support muster checks, fire-zone monitoring and other critical safety procedures.
Technical control
Configuration and monitoring tools give technical users clearer oversight of the installed safety infrastructure.
Operational trust
Successful onboard tests demonstrated that the complete ecosystem could function in real maritime conditions rather than only in a laboratory environment.
From discovery to onboard proof of concept
The project followed an iterative R&D model in which software, hardware and operational assumptions were tested together. Each phase generated new data and influenced the next design decision.
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