Comprehensive Maritime Search and Rescue Resource Planning

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Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) in Canada is a very valuable service. To provide the best coverage over our vast expanses of navigable waters with a limited number of Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) vessels requires careful planning. The operating environment is very complicated, with a great diversity of traffic such as commercial ships, fishing vessels, recreational boating, ferries, and cruise ships, sometimes operating in difficult weather conditions. This research project aims to develop a model using historical SAR incident data, current traffic patterns, and existing Coast Guard vessel types and locations, to determine whether the vessels can be assigned differently to improve coverage. There are several other uses of the model. If a SAR vessel unexpected goes out of service, it may be necessary to rearrange other CCG vessels temporarily to cover the gap, and the model is particularly useful for calculating what the implications of various arrangements are. In the longer term, response vessels need to be replaced. The model can also be used to assess fleet configurations, that is what mix of different types of Coast Guard vessels is the most cost effective to achieve the best response capability.