THE REALITY OF DECISION-MAKING ON THE WATER
The crews, officers and responders using thermal and onboard technology to make faster, clearer decisions at sea
Marine technology is easy to describe in terms of features: higher resolution, longer range, stronger tracking, better stabilisation.
The more important question is what those features change for the crew using them.
For marine police, coastguards, harbor patrols, and search-and-rescue teams, the value is practical. Better visibility in low light. Stronger tracking in fast-moving situations. Faster sharing of live information. Less effort spent managing systems, and more confidence in the decisions that follow.
Police Boat Invictus
—Raymarine and Flir powering police response at sea
Dorset Police: Built Around The Officer, Not The Equipment
For the UK Police, operating in the maritime space presents its own unique challenges. Keeping people safe on the water is of the upmost importance; both through ‘visible policing’ – being out there and seen, and on special task force operations.
Dorset Police have recently taken ownership of two purpose made vessels, fully equipped with Raymarine systems. These two fast response boats provide them with the capability to respond to inshore and offshore tasks, with confidence and speed.
Invictus is an 11-metre tactical RIB, crewed by two maritime police officers and able to carry eight more officers for close-quarters operations. Sentinel, a Sargo 36 Fly, gives the force an operational reach of up to 500 nautical miles. Both vessels are equipped for the same reason: to help officers build a clear picture of what is happening around them, then act on it quickly.
Police Boat Sentinel
—A Sargo 36 Fly gives Dorset Police a reach of 500 nautical miles
On board, Raymarine Axiom 2 Pro displays sit at the helm, supported by radar and VHF communications. Thermal visibility comes from the Flir M364C, which helps crews maintain awareness when low light, weather or glare make ordinary vision less reliable.
One of the most useful parts of the setup is the Raymarine AIS5000, which allows secure ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore messaging, tasking and intelligence sharing. That means a sighting does not stay with one officer or one vessel. It becomes part of a live operational picture that can be shared while the incident is still unfolding.
Protecting Those Who Protect Us
—With advanced marine electronic solutions such as the Raymarine Axiom 2 Pro display & AIS5000 Class A transmitter
"The story of marine technology is often told through hardware. Out on the water, the real story is usually human."
Confidence to Return Safely
—Our technology is trusted by heroes with the hardest jobs, in the toughest conditions.
U.S. Coast Guard: When Confidence Has To Scale
Through Raymarine’s SINS-2 programme, standard-fit marine electronics systems are supplied across more than 2,000 U.S. Coast Guard vessels, from small fast-response boats to large offshore cutters. That level of deployment says a great deal. At that scale, systems have to do more than perform well in ideal conditions. They have to work across vessel types, across crews, and across missions.
The technology package includes chartplotter displays, radars, sonars, remote instruments, and AIS transponders built to withstand harsh marine conditions. Raymarine’s LightHouse operating system also includes pre-programmed search-and-rescue patterns, graphical target intercept tools, and encrypted communications.
What matters here is the effect this has on the crew. Search patterns can be followed more systematically. Intercepts can be managed with more confidence. Information can be shared with less friction. For a service responsible for such a wide range of maritime operations, that consistency is a major advantage.
The people behind this technology are not looking for novelty. They are looking for dependability. The success of a system like this is measured in whether crews trust it enough to work from it, shift after shift, mission after mission.
Keeping Watch
—Thermal image of a ship at sea, taken on an Ocean Scout Pro
Handheld Thermal for Smaller Crews: Why Portability Matters
Not every marine operation begins from a large patrol vessel. Many law enforcement and response teams work from smaller boats where speed, weight, and flexibility matter just as much as image quality.
That is where the Ocean Scout Pro has found a place. Winner of the 2025 DAME Award for Personal Equipment, this handheld thermal camera has been adopted by law enforcement agencies and is especially well suited to smaller vessels.
Its value is not difficult to understand. A handheld system gives crews the freedom to move. It can be used to scan the water, check a shoreline, support an approach, or maintain visibility from wherever the crew needs it most. It works with the movement of the operation rather than locking the user into one position.
That matters because smaller crews often need tools that are immediate and adaptable. The right piece of technology in that environment is rarely the most complicated one. It is the one that gets picked up, trusted, and used.
Confidence to Return Safely
—Our technology is trusted by heroes with the hardest jobs, in the toughest conditions.
What’s Next:
The future is not more screens. It is less strain on the operator.
The next generation of marine technology is moving in a clear direction: not towards more complexity for its own sake, but towards systems that absorb more of the burden themselves.
That is where the new Flir M460 and M560 come in. Launched in 2025, these flagship multi-spectral maritime camera systems combine thermal imaging with a 4K low-light visible camera, an integrated laser spotlight, and an optional ITAR-free laser rangefinder with an effective range of up to 12 km (7.46 miles).
The M460 uses a high-sensitivity long-wave infrared thermal sensor with 5x optical zoom. The M560 uses a high-sensitivity mid-wave infrared sensor with 14x optical zoom for stronger long-range performance. Both also offer Colour Thermal Vision, which adds visual colour context to the thermal image so crews can interpret navigation marks and shoreline features more quickly.
More important than the specifications, though, is what these systems are designed to do for the person using them. They include AI target tracking, helping the camera identify and follow vessels, buoys and people. They also feature three-axis gyro stabilisation, which helps keep the image steady in rough seas and during high-speed manoeuvres.
The future, then, is not simply better visibility. It is technology that helps crews do their jobs with less effort, less distraction and more confidence.
