The Anshinya life-harness: inexpensive, painless Crew Overboard retrieval

[Alan Mighty]

Mr Watanabe Shinya, a first grade office of the Nippon Coast Guard office in Obama City, has devised a simple and inexpensive floating harness that can be used to retrieve Crew Over Board (COB).

The harness is made from a length of 3-strand laid rope, a polyethylene pool noodle, and a snap shackle. The cost is low: a few US dollars, a few hundred Nipponese yen.

Mr Watanabe designed the harness solve the problem of winching aboard a vessel a COB without injurying the COB. The COB must be either: (1) conscious and able to help themself into the harness; or (2) assisted into the harness by a swimmer. The need for the harness was demonstrated in an incident in which a simple rope harness was used to winch a COB aboard, but which caused injuries.

The harness has so impressed Nippon Coast Guard that they are recommending fishing boats and pleasure craft to carry one. The harness is called the "Anshinya" for convenient reference.

You can read about and see a photo of the Anshinya (in English) here: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles...0m/0na/016000c

The Tsuruga station of the Nippon Coast Guard has placed a pdf with instructions for making two versions of the Anshinya - a three section harness (with two eyeloops, either of which can be used for winching aboard); and a four section harness (with three eyeloops, either of which can be used for winching aboard). The eyeloops provide convenient lodgements for a boathook, so the 4-section Anshinya might be better.

For your convenience, I have attached a pdf with the instructions (2020909 anshinya.pdf, about 468 KB). The URL for the pdf is: https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/08kanku...09anshinya.pdf and the URL for the Tsuruga station of the Nippon Coast Guard (aka Japan Coast Guard) is: https://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/08kanku/tsuruga/

The pdf is written in Nihongo. A translating service such as translate.google.com may be of additional assistance to you.

[Simi 60]

Nice and easy, thanks.

[waterman46]

It sounds like a good idea, but neither of the URLs given actually show the device in use. I mean, in a picture where you could see how to actually get yourself into it properly with the hauling line hooked up. If the Japanese CG wants people to use it, they need to show that, preferably in a video, not just how to make it.

[NevilleCat]

I can't figure it out...does the recovery/hauling line attach to either one, or both, of the loops?

[IslandHopper]

Looks like a dollar shop version of my Burke Retriever Float & Lifesling, should work a treat....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOtO...ature=emb_logo

[JPA Cate]

Let me know if any of you guys try that with female crew. I'm concerned about squashing my boobs.

I really like the rescue sheets some of the race boats are using, locally.

One beauty of the Japanese one is it is so inexpensive to make. Think I'd use silver line here in Oz.
Ann

[Wotname]

I don't wish to take anything away from this device because anything that makes it easier to retrieve a MOB (COB) is always a good thing.

The downside I see with this device is that it looks like it lifts the MOB (COB) vertically when best practice is to raise the MOB (COB) horizontally.