Emergency-response software to access critical data in moments

The Mission

(we chose to accept it)

Mission-critical emergency software for the ocean's final frontier

PRS is expert in building, mobilizing, operating, and staffing ROV systems on a global basis. When the OceanGate Titan failed to return to surface after a planned mission to the site of the RMS Titanic in June 2023, OceanGate activated PRS for search and rescue. Managing hundreds of decisions and coordinating with countless elements of a successful offshore subsea operation, PRS immediately mobilized their 6000-meter Odysseus 6K ROV System, carried by USAF C-17s to an awaiting vessel in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and raced against the clock to reach the seafloor to locate, and ideally rescue, the missing crew.

Though the discovery of the Titan’s catastrophic implosion was a devastating coda to the PRS mission, it highlighted a fundamental issue with current maritime search and rescue systems: a lack of assets, capability, and expertise to respond to a subsea emergency.

It was this safety gap that led PRS to design their SYSTEM 3R: Rapid, Ready-state, Response program, that at its core is a proprietary, cloud-based software system that tracks client vessel movement and submersible operations, in addition to generating "Integrated Emergency Response Plans" immediately prior to every submersible dive.

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The Fix

From industry and SAR authority gap to scalable software application

PRS had a very focused vision for the software product, but needed a technical partner who could move from concept to production-ready platform fast enough to meet market opportunities. Building software to deftly handle the complexity of real-time marine, infrastructure, and weather data integration was key because seconds count in maritime emergency response.

Test Double brought in the right skill set at each stage—product management, DevOps, and senior software engineers—working in tight agile cycles with weekly deliverables, and adjusting up or down as needed. The team balanced startup velocity with production-grade quality, pairing AI-accelerated development with an average 15+ years of software engineering and product management experience to deliver a system Pelagic's founders trusted to present to major clients.

Great software

Production infrastructure from day one: AWS backed hosting, data modeling, and API integrations built for real-world scale rather than disposable prototypes
Real-time data synthesis: Integrated up-to-the minute user provided dive info plus direct API integration to weather, marine traffic feeds, Coast Guard locations, and airport data—organized into a single operational view that handles volume and complexity
AI-enabled development with senior guardrails: Features delivered in hours instead of days while maintaining architectural integrity and reliability for high-stakes emergency response
Extensible codebase: Built for expansion and ongoing feature development, not technical debt

Great teams

Embedded collaboration: Translate Pelagic’s operational expertise into software requirements and iterative development
Flexible team scaling: Adjusted resources up and down as needs evolved to enable agile approach
Signal through the noise: Nuanced view of API data integrations to provide iERPs with the necessary data in critical moments
Go-to-market readiness: Equipped Pelagic to confidently demonstrate and sell their platform to prospective clients

CONSULTANTS

Tech & Techniques

Ruby on Rails
JavaScript
AWS
API data integrations
AI-enabled development practices
Agile product delivery

The Results

Production-ready software at startup speed

Test Double transformed Pelagic's concept into a market-ready platform in 2 months. From kickoff in mid-May to client demos by July, the team delivered production-ready software and tested integrations to enable Pelagic's founders to confidently present to major potential clients.

Ready-state rescue services endorsed by leading submersible builders, government SAR groups, and militaries globally
Production-ready platform delivered in under 2 months: From concept to potential client system demos with reliable infrastructure, tested API integrations, and extensible architecture that handles real-world operational complexity
AI-accelerated development without sacrificing quality: Features delivered in hours instead of days while maintaining enterprise-grade code structure, guided by senior software engineering judgment for high-stakes emergency response software‍
Real-time synthesis of complex marine data: Integrated weather APIs, marine traffic feeds, Coast Guard locations, airport information, and vessel specifications into a single operational view for tracking multiple concurrent dive operations worldwide when seconds count

Pelagic Research Services Mobile Command Center being loaded onto a cargo plane

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Ready-state rescue services endorsed by leading submersible builders, government SAR groups, and militaries globally

Production-ready platform delivered in under 2 months

AI-accelerated development without sacrificing quality

Real-time synthesis of complex marine data

Testimonial

Dependable Execution

After interviewing several software development companies, it became very clear that Test Double not only fully understood our intent, but they were able to get us to MVP with a very functional UI in line with our specs and purpose on schedule. Further updates, functionality builds, and overall performance enhancements have been critical in getting our ready-state rescue services endorsed by leading submersible builders, government SAR groups, and militaries globally.

Jeff Mahoney, Director of Business Development for PRS and the SYSTEM 3R Program Director

Pelagic Research Services