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Sailing boat at dusk, a person in a life jacket pointing at a lifebuoy in the water

Someone has gone overboard

A shout, a splash – and someone is in the water. In the first seconds three things decide: shout, throw something that floats, never take your eyes off them.

First

  1. Shout “Man overboard!” loudly so everyone hears.
  2. Immediately throw something that floats: lifebuoy, life jacket, cushion.
  3. Never take your eyes off the person and point at them with your outstretched arm.
  4. Alert the crew or skipper and call for help: 112, at sea also by marine radio on channel 16 (MAYDAY). Do not jump in after them.

Call emergency services if

  • Always when someone has gone overboard and is not back on board at once
  • The person is out of sight
  • After the rescue: the person is coughing, breathing with difficulty, confused or very cold

Emergency numbers for Austria · Change region

What is happening

People go overboard when they lean too far over the rail, stumble in a swell, slip on a wet deck or get between boat and jetty when mooring. On open water you lose sight of a head between the waves very quickly.

That is why three rules apply on board at the same time: shout “Man overboard!” loudly, immediately throw something that floats (lifebuoy, life jacket, cushion) and keep looking at the person without a break, pointing at them with your outstretched arm. Then help is alerted: on large ships the crew, on small boats 112 by phone or by marine radio on channel 16, the international distress and calling channel, with MAYDAY.

Cold water is especially dangerous: in the first minute cold shock takes your breath away, later arms and legs lose their strength. Anyone in the water should first lie back and float until their breathing calms down.

Nobody jumps in after them without equipment. Otherwise there are two people in the water. How a boat is manoeuvred back is the job of the person helming who has practised it; this page describes what everyone else does.

Step by step

Someone has gone overboard – Phase 1 of 4The first seconds: shout, throw, point. Shout “Man overboard!” loudly. Throw a lifebuoy, life jacket or cushion near the person. Never take your eyes off the person and point at them with your outstretched arm – one person does only this. Call out to the person: “Lie back and float!”
Phase 1 of 4

Phase 1 of 4

The first seconds: shout, throw, point

Shout “Man overboard!” loudly. Throw a lifebuoy, life jacket or cushion near the person. Never take your eyes off the person and point at them with your outstretched arm – one person does only this. Call out to the person: “Lie back and float!”

The animation shows the key actions of each phase schematically; the text below is what counts.

  1. Phase 1

    The first seconds: shout, throw, point

    • Shout “Man overboard!” loudly.
    • Throw a lifebuoy, life jacket or cushion near the person.
    • Never take your eyes off the person and point at them with your outstretched arm – one person does only this.
    • Call out to the person: “Lie back and float!”

  2. Phase 2

    Raise the alarm

    • On a ferry or ship: alert the crew at once or send someone.
    • On a boat: 112 by phone, or MAYDAY on marine radio channel 16 by someone who can operate the radio.
    • Say where you are (position from the map app or navigation device), that someone is overboard and how many people are on board.
    • If the person is out of sight: call for help at once and give the spot where they were last seen.

  3. Phase 3

    Back to the person – without a second casualty

    • Do not jump in after them.
    • Whoever is helming turns the boat as practised; everyone else keeps pointing and watching.
    • Wear a life jacket yourself before you lean over the side.
    • Reach the person with a line, a lifebuoy on a line or a boat hook – from the boat.
    • On large ships the crew does the rescue; passengers keep the way clear.

  4. Phase 4

    After the rescue

    • Get the person out of the wind and water, swap wet clothes for dry ones, wrap them up warmly.
    • If they are coughing, breathing with difficulty, confused or very cold: call the ambulance service, even if they seem fine.
    • Stay calmly with them until help arrives.
    • Tell the emergency service when the person is back on board so the search is called off.

★ Pro tips

What experienced people do differently: proven practice from mountain rescue, fire services, lifeguards and civil protection that beginners rarely know.

  1. Hit the MOB button at once

    Many chartplotters and GPS units have an MOB (man overboard) button. One press stores the position where it happened. That lets you find the spot again and give rescuers an exact position.

  2. Keep throwing floating things

    After the lifebuoy, keep throwing things that float: cushions, fenders, lifejackets. They mark a trail back to the person and help you find them again, even when their head disappears between the waves.

  3. Lift them out as horizontally as possible

    Someone who has been in cold water for a while can collapse if hauled out vertically. So bring them aboard as close to lying flat as you can, for example with two lines or a recovery net. Then keep them lying down and wrap them up warmly.

  4. Plan how to get someone back aboard

    Often the hardest part isn't reaching the person but getting them back up: someone wet and exhausted is very heavy. Before setting out, work out how it's done on your boat – boarding ladder, step loop, a purchase on a winch – and practise once in calm water.

  5. Clip on at night and in rough seas

    Experienced sailors clip on with a harness and tether at night, when alone on deck and in rough seas. Plus the old rule: one hand for yourself, one for the boat. The best rescue is the one never needed.

What to watch out for

  • Lost from sight

    A head in the water is small and disappears between waves. One person does nothing but look and point – that is their most important job.

  • Cold shock

    Cold water makes you gasp in the first minute. Anyone who swims wildly now swallows water. Lie back and float until breathing calms.

  • Jumping in after them

    Without a life jacket, a line and training, one person in the water quickly becomes two. Throw, reach, go back with the boat first – never jump in.

  • Propeller and hull

    Close to the person, a turning propeller is dangerous, and waves can push them against the hull. The manoeuvre belongs in practised hands.

Common mistakes

  • Everyone looks for the rescue equipment and nobody keeps an eye on the person.
  • Jumping in after them without a life jacket and line.
  • Delaying the emergency call because you want to try yourself first.
  • Leaning over the side without a life jacket.
  • Assuming everything is fine after the rescue although the person is coughing or confused.

Prepare in advance

  • Wear life jackets on board, especially in a swell, in the cold, at night and on small boats.
  • On ferries and ships, listen to the safety briefing and know where the lifebuoys hang.
  • On your own boat, agree before setting off who does what if someone goes overboard.
  • Use marine radio only with the necessary training and licence; keep your phone in a waterproof pouch.
  • Do not lean over or sit on the rail, and never let children out of sight on deck.

Special consideration

Children
Children always wear a suitable life jacket on deck and stay within reach of an adult. They should know: anyone who sees someone fall in shouts loudly and points – and never jumps in after them.
Dogs
If a dog falls in, the same rules apply: shout, point, go back with the boat – nobody jumps in after it.

Sources

  • IAMSAR Manual (International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual), Volume III – Mobile Facilities · International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
  • Respect the Water – Float to Live · Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), UK
  • International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended · International Maritime Organization (IMO), 1974
  • Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment and Prevention of Drowning: 2019 Update · Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (Wilderness Medical Society), 2019
  • Cold water immersion: kill or cure? · Experimental Physiology (M. J. Tipton, N. Collier, H. Massey, J. Corbett, M. Harper), 2017
  • 112 – the European emergency number · European Commission

Your situation

Where are you?
Can you see the person?
The water is …

Matching entries

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Basics for this situation

Why: Always applies to this situation – regardless of your answers.

All rules of this situation (4)

  1. [not active] If Where are you? = Ferry or large ship with crew

    Alert the crew at once or send someone, and keep pointing yourself. The crew knows the procedures and can turn the ship or launch a boat.

  2. [not active] If Where are you? = Sailing or motor boat

    One person only points, one throws and raises the alarm, and whoever is helming turns the boat as practised. Whoever can operate the radio sends a MAYDAY on channel 16; otherwise 112 by phone.

  3. [not active] If Can you see the person? = No, lost sight of them

    Make the emergency call at once and give the spot where the person was last seen – position from the map app or the navigation device. All eyes on the water.

  4. [not active] If The water is … = Cold (spring, autumn, winter, northern seas, mountain lakes)

    Cold water takes your breath away in the first minute. Call out to the person: “Lie back and float!” Every minute counts – do not delay the emergency call.