Optimum placement of sea rescue resources

In countries with autonomous regional governments, the positioning of the national sea rescue resources is often a permanent source of friction between the national and regional authorities. This friction usually resurges after any heavily publicised accident. However, the process of planning sea rescue resources and their distribution in the various locations should be carried out according to scientific criteria.The aim of the present work is to build a tool which allows sea rescue resources to be assigned objectively. To this end, we formalise a general methodology based on gravitational models which allows us to define individual and zonal distribution models. Also, a practical application of the zonal model is performed, assigning ‘sea rescue boats’ to a segment of the coast where there are three ports.