Mercury Marine 1st Mate, the first man-overboard and theft prevention (TDS) system based on proximity, integrated into a marine industry engine.
1st Mate by Mercury is the first man overboard system & security (TDS) based on proximity, integrated into the engine, worldwide. Using a set of sophisticated wearable devices intended for up to 8 people, 1st Mate cuts off the engine or triggers an alarm in case of a man overboard (MOB) event, and optionally sends notifications to emergency contacts. If the electronic key is out of range, the system disables the engine or limits its power. All these functions address the most critical needs of boaters, namely safety and security. 1st Mate consists of an intelligent hub, a set of portable products, and a mobile device application that integrate with a boat's propulsion systems to provide safety features that can save lives and help secure assets. Its three main features are: man overboard monitoring and alert system, distress call capability, and deterrence against boat and/or engine thefts.
The three main features of this product work as follows:
Man overboard monitoring and alert system
This system protects the boat's captain and up to seven passengers. If the system detects that the captain has fallen overboard, the device sends alerts to the system hub, to its application, and to all passengers' mobile devices. The system shuts down the engines and sends specific instructions to the passengers' mobile phones via the application. The instructions help passengers restart the engines and safely bring the boat back to the location where the fall occurred at sea. Similarly, if a passenger goes overboard, the system sends alerts to the captain and other passengers. The captain receives heading instructions that allow him to steer the boat back to the location where the fall overboard occurred.
Distress Messaging
If the captain of a boat is alone and the system detects that they have fallen overboard, it sends a distress message to a list of emergency contacts entered by the captain into the application. The distress message includes the GPS location as well as the time and date of the overboard incident. This function is also useful in cases where the captain is not alone and falls overboard, but the passengers, for any reason, are unable to bring the boat back to the overboard location or to get the captain back onboard.
Anti-theft device
Some of the anti-theft capabilities of the system vary depending on the boat engine technologies. In all cases, the system offers engine locking functions. For boats equipped with Mercury outboard engines featuring Mercury SmartCraft technology, the system requires not only a "unlock" command from the captain's app or a portable device to operate the engines but also that the engines removed from the boat detect a "handshake" from the system before being able to be restarted.
