Jan 29
Remote-Controlled Boats Aim to Revolutionize Water Rescues
- Scott Way
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
Remote-controlled and drone operated boats are becoming valuable tools on North American beaches.
The idea is that as a non-crewed vessel they can reach a distressed boater or swimmer faster, more safely, and with more options than a crewed vessel serving as the first responder. While groups like the Coast Guard, police forces, and lifeguards are plenty capable, the response time of a drone and its ability to travel faster is becoming a critical asset when seconds matter.
In Panama City, Florida, the city's Beach Safety Unit has just launched the "Emily Boat," a remote-controlled, high-speed water rescue vessel designed to assist lifeguards during an emergency. Equipped with a large float, the Emily can be deployed quickly and reach swimmers in distress faster than jet skis or lifeguards.
Beach Safety Director Daryl Paul explained the boat’s role is part of a broader strategy to train community partners, including units from the Panama City Beach Police Department, in new ways of recognizing and responding to an on-water emergency.
“There’s various stages of drowning, and honestly drowning is kind of a silent process, there’s not a lot of screaming and yelling like you see in the movies, so we train a lot of our personnel to be able to recognize those stages and those signs, and this tool in the toolbox essentially gives our community partners another resource to be able to use to be a little bit more effective,” Paul told WJHG Channel 7 News in Panama City.
The same "Emily" boats have also been deployed in Kalamazoo this summer on Lake Michigan. Emily is actually an acronym, standing for "Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard," and her prowess for saving lives and accessing troubled swimmers and boaters may see them become commonplace throughout coastal communities.
According to M Live Michigan, each unit costs less than $12,000 USD and are being deployed as a complement to lifeguard organizations and police units to their existing tactics. In other words, they're another tool in the toolkit.
In a training session with Kalamazoo lifeguards, the Emily was deployed from the beach and controlled from the shoreline by a lifeguard with a remote control. The vessel is essentially a miniature boat hull with a flotation device mounted on top. They are quick and responsive, especially in big surf that would otherwise be difficult for a swimmer. It also allows them to reach a struggling swimmer before a lifeguard or even a crewed vessel can.
Back in Panama City, Beach Safety Director Daryl Paul says programs like Emily can vastly reduce drowning and rescues. According to Paul, from 2023 to 2024 the number of water rescues in Panama City Beach dropped from 237 to 105. Over the same time period, the number of 'public assists' dropped from 2,500 to 350.
Paul says the Panama City program will increase in size and scale going forward, and it's likely other waterfront cities will see their success and follow suit.
The vessels are made by an Arizona company named Hydronalix, who describe them as "Advanced Small Surface Robotic Systems." The company was founded in 2009 and has already shipped over 2000 systems across the U.S. and abroad. They've worked in collaboration with law enforcement and military to develop unique models custom tailored to each outfit's needs and they've built multiple variations for ocean research, other marine studies, and specialized applications. Some have been built to include GPS, sonar or radar, and other hardware for accruing data without putting a person at risk.
The concept of unmanned rescue vessels is gaining traction across the board. Bombardier, the makes of Sea-Doo, recently proposed their Sea-Drone 88 concept for everything from coastal surveillance to search and rescue. Meanwhile, autonomous technology for operating unmanned vessels has expanded by leaps and bounds in recent years. In 2022, a Japanese company successfully moved a 728-foot (22 m) ferry a distance of 150 miles (240 km) fully autonomously. The massive vessel was able to depart, travel, and dock itself without human intervention.
Just last year, a UK startup began developing autonomous delivery drones, which, like the Emily concept, could deliver rescue supplies to a stranded vessel or help struggling swimmers or boaters needing immediate help.
You can see how Emily works in the video below:
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