Mercury Marine's new 1st Mate Safety/Security system combines an intelligent hub, a set of wearable devices and a mobile‑device app that integrate with a boat’s propulsion systems to provide potentially lifesaving safety features and to help secure property from theft. It includes a boater‑overboard monitoring and alert system, distress‑messaging capability and deterrence against boat theft.

The Boater‑overboard warning system employs wearable fobs that connect to a mobile device to monitor a boat’s captain/driver and up to seven passengers. Should the captain fall overboard, the engine(s) will stop, an alarm will sound and alerts providing instructions to the passengers will be sent via the 1st Mate mobile app. The instructions will guide the passengers through restarting the engines and safely steering the boat back to the location where the captain went overboard.

Similarly, if a passenger falls overboard, the app will sound an alarm, send alerts and provide the captain with the overboard passenger’s GPS location. If a boat captain falls overboard and can’t get back onboard, or passengers can’t return the boat to the captain, 1st Mate can send a distress message to emergency contacts designated on the captain’s mobile app. The distress message is sent after a countdown timer expires or a request for help is made. The message includes the location, heading, date and time of the boater‑overboard event.

The theft deterrence feature locks a boat’s engine(s) to prevent unauthorized use. Once the boat captain is ready to get back behind the wheel, the engine(s) can easily be unlocked via the proximity of the captain’s wearable fob or by use of the 1st Mate mobile app. The 1st Mate mobile app is available now in the Apple Store for iOS devices with a version for Android devices coming soon.

MSRP: NA. Contact: www.mercurymarine.com