In order to provide rapid assistance to ships and to rescue people adrift in the water, you need detailed information about the conditions at the scene of the accident. However, distress signals sent out have so far suffer from lack of accuracy, making it difficult for sea rescuers to operate efficiently.

The project partners of the LARUS project (duration 2016-2019) set themselves the goal of developing an unmanned flight system that can be operated automatically - without pilot control - to search for and rescue people in distress at sea. The latest sensors allow objects to be found more quickly, thus significantly improving the chances of survival. The communication technology integrated into the aircraft enables not only the search of distressed vessels but also to establish contact and transmit medical data as well as information about the precise situation to the rescue forces. The project (FKZ:13N14135) was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

To give recognition to this work, the project received the 2021 IMRF Award, which was established to pay tribute to search and rescue professionals around the world for their outstanding actions, skills, expertise, and commitment as well as to honour innovations/technologies that advance search and rescue operations.

As part of the LARUS team, the IMST team is delighted to receive this special award.