The most common boat in trouble is a small open boat or inflatable with no VHF, no AIS and no EPIRB — just a phone. VesselSOS makes that phone count: a live link for someone at home, and an emergency screen with your position, MAYDAY wording and the responsible rescue centre.
Solo at five in the morning, anchored on a mark or drifting a bank — nobody at home knows more than “back by noon”. The live link changes that: your position and battery in their browser, no app to install, no account. If the dot drifts where it should not, they see it happen.
An outboard that will not start is a technical-assistance case: in Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Germany the app points you to the local assistance service and dials the member number from your profile. The escalation logic is spelled out in Mayday or a tow? When it genuinely is life-threatening, one tap on SOS, one yes/no question, and the app dials the rescue centre.
Spring and autumn fishing puts you on cold water in an empty bay. Your coordinates are on screen the moment the app opens — GPS needs no mobile network — and the pre-written SMS with a map link — one tap to open, then Send — reaches everyone you chose, through coverage too weak for anything else.
A lifejacket does the surviving; the app does the finding. VesselSOS is an aid, not a rescue service — in immediate danger, call 112 first.
The SOS screen and SMS work anywhere your phone works. The rescue-centre pick covers Europe’s seas — on lakes and rivers, call 112.
One big SOS button, then one yes/no question — the app dials as soon as you tap Yes. Built to work when your hands are not at their best.
Pick motor boat for an open boat, inflatable or rowboat (the other types are sailing boat, SUP/kayak and jet ski). Its name, length and colour go into the call script, and its name into the texts you send.