Ministry drills maritime rescue off Busan using Badanavi emergency system

South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will conduct an emergency rescue drill simulating a worker falling overboard to test its Badanavi-based maritime accident response system.

The ministry announced Tuesday that it will hold a "joint emergency rescue drill for vessel accidents" Wednesday in waters near Oryukdo, off Busan Port.

The drill will involve the ministry, the Busan Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries, the Busan Maritime Police Station and Pusan National University Hospital. Participants will simulate a scenario in which a crew member is injured during vessel operations, transmitting an SOS signal via a Badanavi onboard terminal and mobile application, then running through the full response chain — from dispatching rescue teams to the scene to providing remote medical support at sea.

Badanavi is a maritime safety service that delivers collision and grounding hazard alerts, real-time maritime traffic information and weather data. Vessels equipped with a dedicated terminal can access the service via a maritime LTE network (LTE-M) at distances of up to 100 kilometers from the coast.

The exercise also marks the first joint drill since the Intelligent Maritime Traffic Information Center — the Badanavi central center — relocated from Sejong to Busan on July 22.

"As this is the first drill since the Badanavi central center moved to Busan, we will work to build close cooperation among the relevant agencies and do our utmost to protect the lives and property of coastal vessel operators and maritime workers," said Jeong Do-hyeon, director general for maritime safety at the ministry.