Coast Guard and international regulations require a ship to sound its horn every two minutes during limited visibility. But often it is difficult for a pilot manoeuvring a vessel through fog to remember to do this manually.
Now a company called TSX Products has developed “Fog- Mate” a device which automatically sounds a ship’s or boat’s horn during fog or emergencies. So successful has the electronic horn controller been with commercial operators that “FogMate” is being offered to the military.
David Fogel of TSX products says: “FogMate relieves the captain and crew from the tedium of timing fog signals whey they should be doing more important things. Fog-Mate can be used on anything from a small boat to an aircraft carrier.”
The unit can be installed in 15 minutes and operates with the vessel’s existing horn and navigation light switches, requiring no new switches or holes in the helm.