It is designed for the worst case scenario: when a yacht is in danger of sinking due to an accident and has to be abandoned, the BRS system (Boat Rescue System) comes into play. The patented, easy-to-install kit, which will also be unveiled at Metstrade in Amsterdam from November 16-18, 2021, is designed to protect against sinking, fire and marine pollution. SeaHelp recommends the system and uses it aboard its response boats.
The most unfavorable event that can happen to a yacht crew is when there is an accident on board, water enters, and it is clear that the yacht must be abandoned.
Not only does the crew now have to watch how to get into the dinghy or get the life raft ready to go as quickly as possible, but often considerable assets are at risk of being destroyed in a matter of minutes, high salvage costs are incurred, and the consequences (as well as the correlating costs) for the environment due to leaking oil and fuel can also be considerable.
Buyoancy bags can be quickly inflated with a fire extinguisher
It’s a good thing that in this scenario you have the rescue kit from the Slovenian company BRS Boat on board. In principle, this kit is a simple but extremely effective system for rescuing ships: inflatable rubber hoses, so-called Buyoancy Bags with a capacity of 850 liters, can be quickly inflated with a standard 2-kilogram C02 fire extinguisher and, thanks to the buoyancy thus increased in an instant, reliably keep the yacht afloat even in the event of a major leak.
A special adapter to which any commercially available C02 fire extinguisher can be connected helps to quickly inflate the Buyoancy Bags. Like a turbocharger, the bags can thus be filled in record time thanks to multiple passages of the air-C02 mixture.
When properly configured, the BRS can save a yacht from sinking
“SeaHelp had the chance to test the BRS kit live at the base in Punat,” says Marko Orlić from SeaHelp Adria. He concludes that the Boat Rescue System reliably fulfilled its function during the demonstration. “Thanks to simple handling, the set, which weighs only 13 kilograms, can be filled quickly even in stressful situations,” says Orlić. After the presentation, he says, the SeaHelp representatives present agreed that the BRS system could indeed reliably save a yacht from sinking when properly configured.
Although several minutes to half an hour can pass between the accident and the sinking in most cases (as far as one can assume an average here at all), and this time should actually be sufficient to be able to fill the bags, it is recommended to try out the kit once before using it, the SeaHelp manager recommends. In this way, it can be ensured that the system really works quickly and reliably in an emergency.
With the BRS, the crew can wait for help on the deck of the damaged yacht
In addition to the aforementioned advantages, the application of the BRS set then also has the positive effect that the crew can wait for help on deck in the respective emergency situation – “just like on a life raft,” says Marko Orlić. In addition, “experience shows that larger objects in the water are much easier to spot than, for example, people swimming in the sea wearing life jackets.”
SeaHelp has recognized the benefits of the system and carries a BRS kit on each SeaHelp response vessel – just in case. The deployment experience of SeaHelp staff showed that a BRS kit with six buoyancy bags of 850 liters each (total capacity 5,100 liters) is sufficient to reliably keep a sinking 12-meter yacht on the water surface; on average, the system fills up completely in no more than five minutes.
SeaHelp members receive a 10 percent discount on the purchase of this product when they present their SeaHelp membership number. The BRS system is currently on display at Metstrade 2021, Nov. 16-18, RAI Amsterdam.
