Geographical Information Systems supporting the Maritime Search and Rescue planning : evaluating the voluntary emergency response in the Gulf of Finland

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly used to support the emergency planning. GIS methods can be utilized when planning the emergency response system as well as in the emergency management during and after incident. In this study, GIS methods are applied to maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) planning. Traffic amounts are constantly growing in the Gulf of Finland (GoF) and SAR response has to keep up with them. Means to evaluate the SAR response are needed to ensure the adequacy of rescue resources. The voluntary SAR response in in the Finnish waters of the GoF is evaluated. The focus is on the operations of the Finnish Lifeboat Institution (FLI) that is the umbrella organization for voluntary maritime rescue associations in Finland. However, it is hoped that also other SAR operators can apply the presented methods when planning their SAR operations. The main interest is in boating because leisure boats are most often the object of a rescue mission. Timeliness is crucial in emergency operations and thus the SAR response is evaluated here mainly based on the response times. The response times with the current fleet of the FLI are modelled with cost distance methods. Weather factors affect significantly the speed of the Search and Rescue Units (SRU). Therefore, in order to make the results more realistic, different wave height scenarios are included in the cost distance calculations. The wave heights are modelled with two different wind speeds and three different wind directions. The results contain response time maps for the whole study area in different wave height conditions, response times for past incident sites, response times with two units and response times for high incident density areas. Also the number of concurrent incidents in certain sub-areas is observed. According to the results of the thesis the voluntary SAR response in the GoF is generally good. Some improvements would be necessary if the FLI would be the only SAR operator in the area. However, if the units of Finnish Boarder Guard (FBG) are also taken into account the response seems adequate. Therefore, no major changes in the operations of voluntary SAR organizations in the GoF are suggested. Instead, the adequacy of the SAR response elsewhere in Finland could be evaluated. The lower density of SRUs outside the study area may result in inadequacy of SAR response.