It’s a startling feeling that creeps into the mind of every captain:  “Is everything OK with the boat?”  When you left the marina or mooring field, you’re certain you did everything right. You checked the lines, warps or mooring bridle for chafe. You turned off anything that might cause unnecessary battery drain. All the hatches were battened. But something just doesn’t feel right and now that you’re 150 miles away – the feeling is getting worse.

What if there was a product that linked to your cell phone or tablet computer that monitored your bilge, battery status and boat position. Would that help with this nagging feeling? Well, there is and we think it’s just what the doctor ordered for providing greater levels of confidence when you are away from your boat. It’s called the Nautic Alert Decision Platform™.

Introduced earlier this year by Market Spectrum, Inc. (a company with which we have just entered into a distribution and installation partnership), the Nautic Alert Decision Platform is an intelligent marine telematics solution engineered to reduce risk of vessel sinking and provide early detection and notification of anchor slippage or unexpected movement from a mooring or dock.

Research shows that upwards of 69% of boats that sink go down either on a mooring or in a slip. This solution addresses this situation head-on by reporting potentially catastrophic events to boat owners remotely, via cell phone or tablet. With this gear, you are going to know about a potential problem before it becomes a real problem.

The Nautic Alert Decision Platform is a collection of detection and reporting technologies which work together to monitor three key early warning indicators:  bilge pump activations, DC current flow and vessel movement. The solution provides owners with real-time views into bilge and battery levels as well as vessel location with a geo-fenced area and transmit alert notifications when activities fall outside pre-programmed parameters.

Market Spectrum CEO Fernando Velado characterizes the benefits of his new solution this way: “Early event detection and notification is key to reducing risk leading to losses and sizeable insurance claims including detection of anchor slippage and unexpected movement from a mooring or dock. The Nautic Alert Decision Platform delivers – when it matters.”

Velado, along with his son Nick, are well-credentialed IT professionals who happen to be passionate boaters. They developed the technology behind Nautic Alert when the elder Velado lost his boat due to a fire aboard another vessel in his marina. So for them, this offering is a mix of professional ability and personal passion.

Boat owners employing the Nautic Alert Decision Platform will receive highly-calibrated and customized notifications of changes to their vessels bilge state while underway, when many other distractions preclude monitoring water incursion on a regular basis. In addition, when boat owners are ashore or away from their marina, they can have bilge water, battery status and vessel location information delivered to their smartphones.

Working with a team like the Velados to provide boaters with solutions that use technology to create a safer boating environment is a core mission here at Marine Special Products Group. While we are thrilled to provide boaters with solutions that deliver convenience and comfort, what really excites us are boating safety solutions that give boat owners the information they need to be confident that their crew and vessel are safe, whether they are on board or not. The Nautic Alert system delivers on this objective in a very significant fashion.

To learn more about the Nautic Alert Decision Platform, please visit their website.