ASA software used in Ireland rescue

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Applied Science Associates Inc. said its search and rescue mapping software was used in efforts to locate and rescue five crew members whose yacht capsized off the coast of Ireland last week.
The Rambler 100 accident occurred during the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race – which goes from the Isle of Wight, around Fastnet Rock off of Ireland’s southwest coast and on to Plymouth in the south of England.
The keel of the Rambler 100 broke off and the yacht overturned; 16 crew members managed to cling to the hull while five others were swept out to sea.
The Irish Coast Guard used ASA’s Sarmap software to predict the movement of the drifting survivors and calculate the search area.
Chris Reynolds, head of the Irish Coast Guard, said the software was “invaluable” to the rescue efforts.
Sarmap uses a combination of GIS, geographic information system, a database of drift behavior, real-time environmental information, and computer modeling to extrapolate the location of vessel, people or containers adrift at sea.
ASA said it has a 15-year working relationship with the Irish Coast Guard.