This is a transcript of Mad Mariner's MadCast, the podcast that covers all aspects of boats and boating. In this edition, our guest is Ben Strong of Amver, which stands for Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System. Sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard, Amver is a computer-based, voluntary ship reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange assistance for anyone in distress at sea. Strong shares his experiences with Mad Mariner's contributing editor, Diane M. Byrne.

Diane Byrne: Let's start with your background. It's always nice to find out how people got into boating. Give a little information about that, and then lead into how you learned about the organization itself.

Ben Strong: Well, I guess my boating background is pretty varied. How I got here to work for the U.S. Coast Guard was kind of a surreptitious route, but I grew up on the Great Lakes, and that's where my real love of boating and sailing and in being on the water was really fostered; growing up in upper Michigan, between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. But I served a few years in the U.S. Air Force, where actually I worked in crash survivability and aerospace physiology, and then spent several years working for the fire department as a professional paramedic, a firefighter paramedic. And after finishing up some college courses and a master's degree, I came to work for the federal government in a different federal agency, dealing with search and rescue as it relates to collapsed buildings, and I actually started working in June of 2001. So when the terror attacks of September 11 occurred, I spent a lot of time in New York City helping the relief efforts there, and then transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard, where I started working, originally, helping to stand up our mass-rescue operations program, which dealt with, primarily at the time, cruise ship rescue. And after about a year, I moved on here to Amver. But our mass-rescue operations program really got a lot of attention after Hurricane Katrina, when the Coast Guard rescued thousands and thousands of people out of New Orleans. And now I'm helping to promote the Amver program and recruit ships into this fantastic international search-and-rescue program.

Byrne: It traces its routes back to the Titanic disaster. Why don't you tell how that actually spurred the creation of Amver itself.

Strong: How ironic the 97th anniversary of the Titanic was just this April 15, so it's a timely question. And indeed, the Amver program does kind of trace its roots back to the Titanic disaster. One of the tragic facts of that incident was that as the ship was launching distress rockets, or flares, at the time, many of the vessels that were transiting the area thought that it was part of the maiden voyage celebration and didn't realize the real peril and danger that the ship was in. The U.S. Coast Guard commandant back in the 1950s believed that there had to be a way to track vessels at that time transiting the North Atlantic, so that another tragedy like Titanic doesn't occur. And with the advent of the vacuum tube and computers in the 1950s, the Amver program was born. The intention was to track vessels that were transiting the North Atlantic at the time so that we could identify vessels closest to those in distress and send them to assist.

Byrne: From those days to the present day, technology has advanced. How different is it from then to now?

Strong: The technology has really changed, as you said, by leaps and bounds. The Amver system started, and has always had a presence, in lower Manhattan, in Battery Park; it originally started in the customs house right in Bowling Green. Essentially, all the computers and the punch card machines and all of the watch standers or the Coast Guard people that had to sit there and monitor this system took up the entire basement, or almost a city block. And now the Amver system resides on a single server at our Coast Guard operations center in West Virginia.

But the system really has progressed by leaps and bounds. What used to be Morse code messages sent in by ships at sea are now e-mail messages or even automated messages that are being sent without any intervention by the bridge crews. So a system that used to track, say, tens or hundreds of voyages a month now receives over 8,000 messages a month relating to ships' positions, sail plans, anything that has to do with where a ship is that could potentially rescue somebody at sea. It's just fantastic evolution.

Byrne: How many ships are involved with Amver, and how do they sign up?

Strong: Well, the way the Amver system works is that we recruit commercial ships, and while I won't call them hard and fast rules as to who can participate, primarily it's vessels that are over a thousand gross tons that are on a voyage of 24 hours or greater. But shipping masters, whether it be the crew or the operations department or owners, can go to the Amver Web site, which is www.amver.com, and there'll be a button there that says "enroll your vessel." And what we ask from the shipping companies is the name of the vessel, the type of communications equipment that's onboard, and the crew complement, because some – say, like a cruise ship – may have medical crew or a more advanced medical crew than a container ship. And we gather this vessel-specific information so that when we do have to divert a vessel, we get the most appropriate ship to divert. But once a vessel is enrolled – and to answer your question, we've got over 18,000 ships representing over 140 nations enrolled in the system – they can then start reporting immediately. So out of that 18,000 that are enrolled, some may be in drydock, some may be laid up. I just checked this morning and looked at how many ships are on plot today. We've got over 3,700 ships available to divert almost daily. So we've really got almost every inch of the world's oceans covered by somebody who can assist a mariner in distress.

Byrne: What's involved for the ships that participate?

Strong: You know, that's the real advantage to the Amver program; it's cost neutral to the shippers. So the equipment that's required is whatever they're already carrying onboard their vessel. They probably have some type of terminal to relay messages to a satellite and then to a land earth station. Most of them have laptop computers onboard. Some companies use a special compressed software program that we have called the Amver seas program, which is a partnership between the U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA, so that a ship can send both their weather observations and their Amver message in one transmission, which saves some money in satellite-transmission costs. But really other than downloading the free Amver seas software, ships can participate using the equipment that they have onboard and just sending us short messages as to their relative position at sea. So it's really simple, and we've tried to make it as cost neutral, as cost effective, and as easy as possible for the shipping community to promote that participation.

Byrne: With that software, take us through the process of them looking at their computer screens. What exactly would be displayed?

Strong: Well one of the advantages to the Amver program, and I guess one of the things to make sure that the listeners are aware of, is first, it's a voluntary program. So again, I'm very pleased that the maritime community participates in the numbers that it does. But because we track commercial ships, and this goes back to even the days when the Amver system was established, there was some concern with the commercial shipping industry that these vessel positions could be leaked out and get into the wrong hands. And one of the things that we're very, very careful of is making sure that the information is only used for search and rescue, so it's not used for security, and the other point is that the information is not shared with other vessels. And the reason is, say there's a tramp steamer carrying bananas to Baltimore from South America. And if the spot price for bananas is higher in Miami and that vessel changes course quickly, we don't alert other ships that this ship has changed course, because it could lead to competitive advantage, or it could ruin competitive advantage. So it's really an inbound system. And then once a distress is recognized somewhere in the world, that's when a search-and-rescue controller will query the Amver database, find out what ships are available, and then request that vessel to divert. So it's truly a partnership between the commercial shipping industry and the government, and we've never breached our promise to not divulge that very important commercial-shipping information.

Byrne: Since you were talking about security, I would think that's something many of the ships would be concerned about – having that type of information regarding their position and their specific vessel being obtained by the wrong people.

Strong: Absolutely. And while there are other vessel-tracking schemes – AIS or long-range identification and tracking – Amver information is received by the United States Coast Guard. We hold it on our own standalone server that's not co-mingled with other law-enforcement or safety or port-state control or inspection servers. So literally, in West Virginia there's this single solitary server that's, you know, ten feet away from anything else. And that's where the information is stored. And nobody has access to that unless there is a true emergency at sea.

Byrne: The Maersk Alabama is part of the Amver ship system. Are there any others you can mention that people might know?

Strong: The Maersk Alabama received an award of the year last year. You probably just saw on the news that another U.S. flagship was unsuccessfully attacked, the Liberty Sun, part of the Liberty Shipping Company. That is a 22-year participant in the Amver system. All U.S.-flagged ships participate in the system. That's by federal regulation. But it's amazing the number of ships out there internationally that participate. And the real advantage to the Amver system is that we don't discriminate by flag or by nation, so we've got most of the world's cruise ships participating in the system. Pick a country or pick a flag, and you'd be surprised who participates. And the reason is because when you get underway, when you're at sea, and when you're in distress, you really don't care the nationality or the religion or the country of somebody who's coming to save you. To underscore that point, we have North Korean ships that participate in the Amver system, and while our countries may have political differences, the one thing that we can all agree on is that when somebody is in distress, again, it doesn't matter who's coming to their aid, it's just that we need to get somebody there to rescue them. So container ships, tankers, bulkers, research vessels, even some megayachts – we encourage folks that have large megayachts to participate. So you pick the type of vessel, and I can probably find you an example that participates in the program.

Byrne: Can you share some recent examples of some successful interventions by Amver vessels?

Strong: Probably the most dramatic case that we've had so far this year occurred in January. A trio was on board a 37-foot catamaran, a homemade catamaran, and they were doing kind of a twice-around-the-world trip and were off Madagascar when they were caught in some pretty severe weather, to the point where one of the crewmembers was blown overboard. The catamaran flipped over from stern to bow and ended up capsized. The two crewmembers that survived were stuck in either hull, and fortunately they had the appropriate rescue equipment onboard and notification equipment. And just to deviate from the story for a minute, if I can encourage every single boater to ensure that they have a 406-megahertz EPIRB properly registered on their boat, that's the means by which our ships will be able to find you. This crew had a properly registered 406 beacon onboard, and it notified rescue coordinators. They were in distress 180 nautical miles south of Madagascar. And we were able to divert a car carrier, a roll-on, roll-off auto carrier, to their assistance. And sadly, one of the survivors perished, but we were able to rescue one of the gentlemen, Mr. Leo Sherman from Illinois. He was an American citizen. He was rescued by the auto carrier, taken to their next port of call in Africa, and then flown home.

And, you know, the real good news from the whole story is that about a month after his rescue, he was able to go down to Jacksonville, Florida, when the ship came in to the United States, and was able to be reunited with the crew. We had Coast Guard representatives on hand to give the crew a certificate of merit for their efforts, and it really kind of helped to bring closure to the whole event. But if folks are interested in reading more about some of these stories, they can check out the Amver blog, which is at www.amveruscg.blogspot.com. Or we're also on Twitter; follow us on Twitter.com/amver to get the latest updates of some of our rescue stories.

Byrne: It's nice to hear something positive for a change.

Strong: Absolutely. Absolutely. And as we experiment more with social media, we've found, that we kind of answer to several different customers. Our search-and-rescue controllers around the world need to have access to the ship-reporting data. And the other thing we've found is that while there's plenty written about how to prepare to get underway or sail around the world or sail across the Atlantic, there isn't much written, or there isn't much information, as to what happens after you've been rescued. And as more and more people are deciding to take some of these longer voyages, I think it's important that we share information on just what's going to happen to you once you've been picked up by a commercial ship – how should you prepare for that, what types of things should you have, is the U.S. State Department going to fly me home.

Byrne: The boaters who were over in Madagascar, what was entailed after they were rescued?

Strong: The agreement that the commercial shipping industry has is that if you're rescued by a commercial ship, even if you're in U.S. territorial waters, you're going to go to that ship's next port of call. I'll give you an example. We had a case of a couple that was rescued in the Caribbean, in the Gulf of Mexico. They ended up on a liquid natural gas, an LNG, carrier that was on its way to France. And they spent ten days transiting the Atlantic and disembarked in Foss, France and were met by U.S. consulate personnel.

But what'll happen to somebody once they're rescued is that they'll be onboard the ship; certainly they'll get the medical attention that they need, dry clothing, food. All of the survivors that I've talked to have said that the experience once onboard ship has usually been quite positive. And the crews really go out of their way to take care of them. And the accommodations are usually quite nice aboard these ships. I've had the opportunity to board some, and the accommodations are, the equivalent of a cruise ship almost. But you'll arrive at the next port of call, the rescue coordinators that helped to ensure all the right pieces were in place or coordinate that rescue will, if you're a U.S. citizen, notify U.S. State Department personnel, who will meet you once you get into wherever that next part of call is. And the State Department will assist you in finding accommodations. But it's the survivor's responsibility to pay for those. And then the State Department will make all the visa and passport arrangements if, for example, the survivor has lost that in the rescue. And the State Department will help make arrangements for your repatriation back to the United States. But again, the State Department isn't responsible for paying for that travel home.

Byrne: I think that a plane ticket home is a small price to pay after you've been plucked out of the water, especially if the boat was sinking.

Strong: Exactly. And you know what, Diane, if I can give some suggestions to folks, even if they're not going that far out in the water: Besides having the EPIRB, I would encourage folks to keep photocopies of their passport and their driver's license, photocopies of their major credit cards, and I would suggest keeping a small amount of cash available. And if you keep it in one-dollar bills, in small denominations, you'll probably find that it will go a little bit further if you do end up in some foreign port, with just that ditty bag, that waterproof bag, full of those few things. But as long as you've got a copy of your passport, that really, really helps to facilitate things with the State Department.

Byrne: A few minutes ago you were talking about how the Maersk Alabama had received an award of the year. All of these crews go above and beyond the call of duty when they are responding to someone in distress. What separates one crew from the others when it comes to this award of the year?

Strong: Well, to help recognize the thousands and thousands of vessels that do participate in the program, we give participation awards. And it's just a way to say thank you. We recognize that you're making yourself available to divert. And it can be quite expensive when a ship has to spend, say, eight, nine, 10, 12, maybe 24 hours out of their transit time looking for somebody in distress or rescuing somebody. It means that they may have missed their port call. And ship operating costs can be anywhere from 10 thousand to several thousands of dollars a day. If they've got a survivor onboard, they may have to meet new customs and immigration requirements when they come into their next port. It really can complicate their arrival at their next port. So, in order to recognize the difficulties and the challenges that they may face should they be called upon, we do give out participation awards for ships that make themselves available to divert at least 128 days. For 2008, over 5,500 ships earned awards for being available to divert at least that 128 days. And then we recognize the ships that really do go above and beyond, and if they perform a specific rescue that maybe required the use of special electronic equipment; whether it be the EPIRB or a DSC alert; we've got various categories, and other maritime organizations present them awards for things that really are above and beyond. Lloyd's List newspaper sponsors an award. Lloyd's Register Fair Place Safety at Sea sponsors an award. The Association for Rescue at Sea sponsors an award. And the New York chapter of the Navy League sponsors an award for U.S.-flagged ships. So we do recognize the efforts that these crews make. And then for those that really do something spectacular, something daring, we want to make sure that we recognize them as well.

Byrne: Is there any way for private boaters to lend support or participate in some kind of way with Amver?

Strong: Well as I mentioned, we encourage megayachts to enroll in the system. And a lot of times they're going be in waters that may be more prone to problems or to incidents. For example, folks that have larger yachts may occasionally take them from Florida over to the Mediterranean, depending on the season, and the Mediterranean and the Caribbean both have a host of refugee issues. I can cite the number of lives that we save per year and the number of lives assisted, but what always keeps me up at night or makes me worry are the people who perish that we never found out about. So folks that do have megayachts and are interested in participating, just go to the Amver Web site, www.amver.com, and you can enroll your vessel. We have a users manual there, which will describe how to report your position to the U.S. Coast Guard. And again, it's very simple. They can just do it via e-mail. But often a lot of these larger megayachts are well crewed, they've got good medical equipment onboard, sometimes they may have more robust fast boats, and some are equipped with helicopters. They may have more robust search-and-rescue capabilities than either a commercial ship or some of the countries that they may be sailing around. So definitely I would encourage them to enroll. If they're providing their position report, it's confidential. And if they end up rescuing somebody, besides the fact that they've saved a life, it's a good feeling, and it may ultimately be good public relations for whoever they may work for, or certainly the crews that are onboard working for the owner of the vessel.

Byrne: It makes them feel good that they can help somebody out in need.

Strong: Absolutely. Well, and there is that obligation to assist somebody in distress at sea. If you know that somebody's in distress, you've got that obligation to respond. And that's one of the advantages, particularly in the commercial shipping industry, we have. We call it a surface picture, that "surpic" of what vessels are available; if, say, ten ships hear a distress, they're all obligated to respond. The real advantage to Amver is that once our search-and-rescue controllers see who's there, they can send that most appropriate vessel, but then tell those other, say, nine ships that they're released from that international obligation. They can continue on to their port call. There's not a case, say, of maybe a commercial ship running over a sailboat or another vessel in distress, or confusion as to who may or may not be responding. It really, really helps better coordinate a situation that really is quite chaotic.