CO₂ mustering, engine room safety
and emergency management
across an entire fleet.
When a CO₂ system is about to activate, one question has to be answered in seconds: is everyone out? Pole Star delivers real-time mustering across engine rooms and CO₂-protected zones - with automated headcount, verified evacuation and a fully on-premise architecture.
What is CO₂ mustering?
The critical safety procedure that stands between a fire and a CO₂ flood - and the lives of everyone still in the zone.
CO₂ mustering is the safety procedure that verifies every person has evacuated an engine room or CO₂-protected zone before the fire-suppression system is activated. Because CO₂ flooding is lethal to anyone still present, the procedure requires precise location of personnel, an instant headcount when an alert is triggered, and a controlled, verified evacuation. Real-time indoor location makes that verification automatic rather than manual.
Engine rooms, CO₂-protected zones and technical compartments - the highest-risk environments on board.
CO₂ activation cannot happen until the zone is confirmed clear of personnel.
Crew wear BLE-enabled badges; a location engine counts and locates them in real time.
Dashboards showing exposure status and evacuation progress, live.
Safety-critical coverage across the entire vessel
The project covers safety-critical areas and emergency operations across the whole ship - supporting real-time mustering, medical response and safety management.
Three safety missions, one platform
CO₂ mustering management
Verified evacuation of engine rooms and CO₂-protected zones before system activation.Read moreEmergency team tracking
Live positions of intervention teams across complex, multi-deck environments.Read moreSpecial needs guest & defibrillator alerts
Geolocated help buttons and AED alerts in passenger areas.Read more
Two very different worlds, one safety requirement
On board cruise ships, safety management spans high-risk technical environments and passenger-facing public areas - and in both, rapid response and precise location are critical.
Engine rooms & CO₂ zones
In the event of a CO₂ system activation, crews must be able to instantly identify who is present, where they are located and whether evacuation has been completed.
Public spaces & medical response
Passenger safety scenarios - assistance requests from guests with special needs, or use of a defibrillator - require immediate alerting and precise indoor positioning for fast, coordinated intervention.
Deploy a real-time mustering and emergency management solution capable of operating reliably across both technical crew-only areas and passenger zones - providing immediate situational awareness during critical safety events.
CO₂ mustering management
CO₂-protected zones and engine rooms represent some of the highest-risk environments on board. The goal was to provide safety teams with a real-time, reliable and actionable view of personnel presence in these zones.
What the procedure requires
Deployment scope
The solution deployed
BLE-enabled badges
Crew operating in technical zones wear badges that continuously emit signals, captured by the ship's local infrastructure.
Real-time location
Staff located live inside engine rooms and CO₂ zones.
Automatic headcount
Personnel present during an alert are counted automatically - no manual roll call.
Dedicated CO₂ mustering dashboards
Displaying exposure status and evacuation progress, live.
Alert triggering via badge button
Enabling immediate escalation from the field.
All data is processed locally through a fully on-premise architecture, ensuring low latency and operational independence.
Operational benefits
Instant visibility of exposed personnel in CO₂-protected zones
Reduced human risk through precise location and automated headcount
Improved evacuation procedures, supported by real-time supervision
Increased confidence and control during high-risk emergency scenarios
Emergency team tracking
During emergencies, intervention teams must be continuously located, deployed rapidly and coordinated efficiently across complex, multi-deck environments.
Deployment scope
The solution deployed
Real-time team tracking
Emergency response teams tracked live using BLE-enabled badges.
Alerts triggered from the badge
Team members escalate directly from the field, ensuring immediate escalation when assistance is required.
Centralized supervision
Supervisors get a live overview of team positions, enabling better coordination and faster decision-making during incidents.
Operational benefits
Reduced response times during emergency situations
Improved coordination of intervention teams
Centralized supervision, scalable across multiple vessels
Special needs guest & defibrillator alerts
Certain passengers may require immediate medical assistance. In these situations, the ability to locate the passenger precisely and dispatch medical teams without delay is critical. In parallel, defibrillators (AEDs) are distributed across public areas - but rapid intervention requires instant awareness when an AED is accessed, and where.
Deployment scope
The solution deployed
Geolocated "Help" button
Passengers with special needs can trigger an alert and transmit their exact indoor location instantly to onboard medical and safety teams.
Automatic AED alerts
An alert is generated automatically when a defibrillator is accessed, immediately notifying response teams and sharing the precise location of the AED and the incident.
All alerts are centralized within real-time supervision interfaces, enabling fast decision-making and coordinated response.
Operational benefits
Faster access to medical assistance for passengers
Reduced intervention time through precise indoor location
Improved passenger safety across public and high-traffic areas
Better coordination of medical and emergency teams
A fully onboard, safety-critical location architecture
The CO₂ mustering solution relies on a fully onboard architecture. The fully on-premise deployment ensures low latency, high availability and reliable performance in critical maritime safety scenarios.
NAO® Track Server (Docker)
Acting as the real-time location engine, computing positions from BLE badge signals.
Cisco IoT Orchestrator
Cisco Catalyst 9800 collecting BLE measurements from Cisco Catalyst 91XX access points and transmitting raw data via Streaming API to the NAO® Track Server.
BLE badges with buttons
Enabling real-time personnel location and emergency interaction.
NAO® Viewer
Delivering dedicated operational dashboards: CO₂ mustering visualization, emergency team tracking, and SNG/defibrillator alarm monitoring.
CO₂ mustering, answered
What is CO₂ mustering?
CO₂ mustering is the safety procedure that verifies every person has evacuated an engine room or CO₂-protected zone before the fire-suppression system is activated. It requires precise location of personnel, an instant headcount when an alert is triggered, and a controlled, verified evacuation.
Why is CO₂ mustering critical on board ships?
Engine rooms and CO₂-protected zones are among the highest-risk environments on a vessel. In the event of a CO₂ system activation, crews must instantly identify who is present, where they are located and whether evacuation has been completed.
How does a real-time CO₂ mustering system work?
Crew members operating in technical zones wear BLE-enabled badges that continuously emit signals captured by the ship's local infrastructure. A location engine computes their positions, counts personnel automatically during an alert, and displays exposure status and evacuation progress on dedicated dashboards.
What technology is used for CO₂ mustering?
BLE-enabled badges paired with a dense infrastructure of BLE-enabled Cisco access points. Raw BLE measurements are collected by a Cisco IoT Orchestrator and streamed to the location engine, which computes real-time positions.
Can CO₂ mustering work without an internet connection?
Yes. All data is processed locally through a fully on-premise architecture, ensuring low latency and operational independence from external connectivity - essential in maritime safety scenarios.
What is an automatic headcount in CO₂ mustering?
It's the automated count of personnel present in a zone at the moment an alert is triggered. Rather than a manual roll call, the system counts badges detected inside the zone and updates as people evacuate.
How do crew members trigger an alert?
Directly from their badge. BLE badges include a button that enables immediate escalation from the field, without needing to reach a fixed alarm point.
What does a CO₂ mustering dashboard show?
Dedicated dashboards display exposure status and evacuation progress in real time - which zones are occupied, by how many people, and whether evacuation is complete.
How many zones can be monitored?
In this deployment, 38 engine rooms and CO₂ zones are monitored in real time across 6 fully equipped decks, supported by 850 BLE-enabled Cisco access points for the CO₂ mustering scope.
Is the system scalable across a fleet?
Yes. The deployment covers 11 ships by July 2026, with badge capacity of 200 badges per boat and centralized supervision scalable across multiple vessels.
Can the same system cover passenger areas?
Yes. The same location platform supports emergency team tracking across all operational zones, geolocated passenger emergency call points, and defibrillator alert triggers in public areas.
What are the operational benefits of CO₂ mustering?
Instant visibility of exposed personnel in CO₂-protected zones, reduced human risk through precise location and automated headcount, improved evacuation procedures supported by real-time supervision, and increased confidence and control during high-risk emergency scenarios.
Before the CO₂ releases, you need one certain answer
If your vessels or industrial sites rely on CO₂ or gas suppression systems, we can walk you through how automated mustering replaces manual roll call - on your own deck plans.
- Automated headcount and verified evacuation
- Fully on-premise, independent from external connectivity
- Scalable across a fleet, from crew safety to passenger assistance