Eight unmanned surface rescue vessels (USRV) were demonstrated in a water emergency rescue drill held by the Qingyuan Municipal Government on its main river, Beijiang. Qingyuan is located in northern Guangdong province, China.

The comprehensive water emergency rescue drill in early December blended unmanned technologies, including drones and unmanned surface rescue vessels (USRV). It showed the government’s success in acquiring the latest technology to improve its service capability around water incidents.

In the live demonstration, the drone patrol formation, upon detecting eight people falling into the water, sent an alert and location information to the command center to request rescue action.

Due to the turbulent currents and the distance from shore, it was impossible to reach the victims with a traditional lifebuoy. Instead, the responders piloted a fleet of Dolphin 1 USRV remotely to pick up the victims and bring them back to the dry land.

“The drill demonstrated the efficiency and accuracy of rescue operation leveraged by unmanned technology,” said Mr. Yin Zhao, secretary of the Qingyuan Municipal Party Committee.

Dolphin 1 is independently developed and produced by Hong Kong company OceanAlpha. It was launched on the market in 2019 and obtained China Classification Society approval certificate in 2020. The product has been sold to more than 30 countries around the world, bringing intelligent revolution to the water safety sector.