Theft deterrence system and method for marine vessels

A method for deterring theft of a marine vessel having a control system including a plurality of engine control circuits, each engine control circuit in the plurality of engine control circuits being selectively connectable to a network bus and controlling operation of a respective marine engine in a plurality of marine engines, the method comprising:

• receiving with a security control circuit a transponder identification code from a transponder;
• determining a status of an engine control circuit based on a comparison of an identification code stored in the engine control circuit with the transponder identification code, wherein the status of the engine control circuit is locked if the stored identification code does not match the transponder identification code and wherein the status of the engine control circuit is unlocked if the stored identification code does match the transponder identification code;
• determining an overall arbitrated lock status of the control system by performing a conjunctive analysis that takes into account all of the locked and unlocked statuses of all of the engine control circuits in the plurality of engine control circuits that are connected to the network bus;
• and
• in response to an outcome of the conjunctive analysis, generating an indication specifying the arbitrated lock status to an operator of the marine vessel.

A method for deterring theft of a marine vessel having a plurality of engine control circuits, each engine control circuit controlling operation of a respective marine engine in a plurality of marine engines, the method comprising:

• receiving with a security control circuit a transponder identification code from a transponder;
• determining an individual status of each engine control circuit based on a comparison of an identification code stored in each engine control circuit with the transponder identification code, wherein the individual status of the engine control circuit is locked if the stored identification code does not match the transponder identification code and wherein the individual status of the engine control circuit is unlocked if the stored identification code does match the transponder identification code;
• performing a conjunctive analysis of each of the individual locked and unlocked statuses of each of the engine control circuits in the plurality of engine control circuits so as to determine an overall arbitrated lock status, and in response to an outcome of the conjunctive analysis, generating an indication specifying the arbitrated lock status to an operator of the marine vessel;
• and
• automatically establishing a virtual geographical perimeter around the marine vessel with a telematics circuit based on a determination that the arbitrated lock status is not unlocked and automatically removing the virtual geographical perimeter based on a determination that the arbitrated lock status is unlocked.

A control system for deterring theft of a marine vessel having a plurality of engine control circuits, each engine control circuit controlling operation of a respective marine engine in a plurality of marine engines, the control system comprising:

• a security control circuit that receives a transponder identification code from a transponder;
• wherein each engine control circuit has a stored identification code;
• wherein the security control circuit determines an individual status of each engine control circuit by comparing each stored identification code with the transponder identification code;
• wherein the individual status of the engine control circuit is locked if the stored identification code does not match the transponder identification code and wherein the individual status of the engine control circuit is unlocked if the stored identification code does match the transponder identification code;
• wherein the security control circuit performs a conjunctive analysis of each of the individual locked and unlocked statuses of each of the engine control circuits in the plurality of engine control circuits so as to determine an overall arbitrated lock status, and in response to an outcome of the conjunctive analysis, generates an indication specifying the arbitrated lock status to an operator of the marine vessel;
• and
• wherein a telematics circuit automatically establishes a virtual geographical perimeter around the marine vessel based on a determination that the arbitrated lock status is not unlocked and removes the virtual geographical perimeter based on a determination that the arbitrated lock status is unlocked.