Lifejacket collaboration

(Posted on 28/08/19)

A recent collaboration between two industry-leading safety equipment specialists shows what can be achieved when companies share their knowledge and expertise.

Together, Survitec and Marine Rescue Technologies’ (MRT) have created a lifejacket that accommodates and complements a range of MRT personal locator beacons (PLB) and takes advantage of the two companies’ knowledge in their respective fields.

Both companies have a long and respected history – MRT has 40 years’ experience in designing man overboard safety systems. While Survitec, with its 160-year heritage and complete safety and survival portfolio – has a proven track record of working in collaboration with high profile industry leaders to develop and deliver bespoke safety innovations.

The lifejacket – the Seacrewsader 290N sMRT – has been specifically designed to be worn with a Sea Marshall AU9 and sMRT AU10 PLB. A number of features have been incorporated to ensure that both the lifejacket and PLB perform in harmony for optimum performance, making it an unbeatable solution for those requiring a SOLAS lifejacket / MRT PLB combination.

It is the first in a series of products that will be brought to market by the partnership.

Ross Wilkinson, Survitec’s Vice President Northern Europe, said: “The strength and mutual respect of each brand sparked the collaboration. By working together, we can ensure that when a customer requires a lifejacket and an MRT beacon they have something that has been designed to complement each other for optimum comfort and in-water performance. Ultimately, to offer the best chance of survival should it be needed.”

Based on Survitec’s established SOLAS-standard Seacrewsader 290N 3D, the new Seacrewsader 290N sMRT version along with MRT’s PLBs are all approved to SOLAS and other international safety standards.

Ryan Pettit, CEO of MRT, added: “MRT’s mantra is to put the safety of the man in the water at the forefront of all our decisions, we would simply not collaborate with any company who does not operate by this philosophy. Survitec is a partner that share our values and produce industry leading safety products, together we can offer customers an unrivalled safety solution. Throughout the product development and testing stages we went to extensive lengths to create a lifejacket/ PLB combination that ensures ultimate protection whilst maintaining comfort for offshore workers around the world.”

Comfort is an extremely important factor when designing a constant wear lifejacket, as it allows offshore workers to carry out tasks easily and unhindered by the safety equipment. With this in mind, the collaborators agreed to position both inflation mechanisms on one side of the lifejacket so that the sMRT PLB is accommodated on the other.

A Fusion 3D cover over the lifejacket further balances out the symmetry for the wearer. Inspection zips have also been incorporated to each side of the lifejacket allowing the sMRT PLB to be turned on/off and the inflation mechanisms to be checked without entirely opening the lifejacket. This development has been integrated into all Survitec’s SOLAS Crewsaver 3D lifejackets – including the new standard Seacrewsader 290N 3D and Rope Access 275N 3D.

This allows personnel to take ownership of inspecting their inflation mechanisms before donning the lifejacket, to ensure the unit is action ready.

The lifejacket’s sculpted bladder is designed to inflate quickly and reliably, even if the wearer is donned in heavy work gear and clothing. This unique bladder design efficiently rotates the wearer to a face up position in the water, whilst further protecting the airway by increasing mouth freeboard and improving both body angle and face plane.

The Survitec range of Crewsaver SOLAS lifejackets have been designed for extreme working environments and abandonment purposes. They can be used in conjunction with a fall arrest harness and are ideal for workers based on offshore platforms and vessels.