CDR Group was recently approached by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) for help in mapping the cruising ranges of lifeboats. The RNLI utilise over 330 active lifeboats based at 235 lifeboat stations around the coastline of the UK and ROI. These lifeboats can travel at speeds of 25 knots and have a range of up to 250 nautical miles. Determining the areas that can be serviced by each lifeboat within target response times is a critical factor in the RNLI’s operations.
Calculating isochrones (lines of equal distance or time) from points on a linear coastline such as parts of Eastern England is relatively simple. In the complex marine geography of, say, the north-west coast of Scotland the task is significantly more difficult.
Following detailed discussions with the RNLI regarding their requirements, CDR Group developed MICruise. This is a MapBasic application running within MapInfo Professional® that rapidly calculates marine isochrones from any given coastal location or set of locations.
These isochrones can be generated as either polygons or polylines at distances selected by the operator.
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