Simrad is proud to announce its collaboration with the NGO Open Arms for a project dedicated to patrolling and rescuing people in distress in the Aegean and Central Mediterranean.
In order to support Open Arms in developing its work at sea, Simrad recently equipped its iconic Astral sailboat with the Halo24 pulse compression radar, NSS evo3 12 chartplotters and IS42 digital displays. Gomona, the organization’s RIB, has also been upgraded and equipped with a Simrad NSS evo3 7 chartplotter, an RS20S VHF radio and a NAIS 500 AIS class B transponder.
Simrad’s cutting-edge technology is fundamental to Astral, a 36-meter sailboat that has helped save more than 15,000 lives since 1970. Its mission: to monitor international waters to recover boats in distress and rescue people fleeing by sea. The Halo24 radar is therefore a crucial tool to assist them in this kind of mission; with its industry-first full 360-degree-per-second scan, it offers near real-time viewing in ranges up to 1.5 nautical miles.
Halo24 also guarantees excellent detection at short, medium and long distances. Thanks to the Dual Range mode, the Astral captain is able to monitor two distances at the same time, thus monitoring targets at close range and detecting long-range weather fronts.
Gerard Canals, Open Arms Chief of Operations, says: “The Open Arms fleet is equipped with the best technology, so we can navigate safely and search for boats in distress. Thanks to Simrad we have been able to improve the electronic equipment of Astral and some of the inflatable boats”.
Pascual Román, Navico Iberia Country Manager, comments: “We are proud to help and support Open Arms in saving lives by equipping their boats with advanced technology to carry out their mission with greater safety and efficiency”.
