MARITIME AND
COASTGUARD AGENCY News Release (Press Notice No:406/08) issued by
The Government News Network on 21 April 2008
From February next
year, only 406 MHz and not 121.5/243 MHz emergency beacons will be
processed within the international satellite-aided search and
rescue system called COSPAS-SARSAT. This affects all maritime
beacons (EPIRBS), all aviation emergency locator transponders
(ELTs) and all personal locator beacons (PLBs) operating on the
121.5/243 MHz bands.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, along with partner
organisations, is therefore encouraging all seafarers to begin
taking steps to ensure they have an initial emergency alerting
alternative such as a 406MHz beacon system.
"The 406MHz system is far superior to its older 121.5/243
MHz sibling," says Chris Blockley-Webb, of the MCA's
Navigation Safety Branch. "It has a unique encoding which
means that specific information about the vessel and its owners is
available from the EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio
Beacon) Register, that any vessel in difficulty can be pinpointed
down to a distance of 120 metres and that a stronger signal from
the beacon is guaranteed.
"Seafarers can still retain the 121.5/243 MHz beacons if
they so wish, but should be aware that these can only be used as a
homing device for search and rescue assets and not as an initial
alerting system. If you want to dispose of your 121.5/243 MHz
beacon, you can do so either by removing the old lithium battery
to avoid accidental activation and then disposing of it at a local
authority designated collection facility or by trading it in
through a distributor take back scheme (some manufacturers are
offering special deals for trade in for a new 406 MHz beacon)."
The 406 beacon has been available to seafarers for 23 years and
has already contributed to many lives being saved.
In January last year the 406MHz beacon from an Irish fishing
vessel 'Discovery' started transmitting. The vessel was
160 miles west of the Isles of Scilly. There were seven people
on board the vessel which had capsized and had no communications
other than the 406 beacon. Five fishermen took to one liferaft
and the other two took to another. Unfortunately as the vessel
turned over it punctured the liferaft with the two fishermen in
and it started to deflate.
Following the 406 MHz beacon 'hit', Falmouth Coastguard
worked in conjunction with the Irish Coastguard to send resources
to the seven fishermen. They were able to pinpoint exactly where
to send the search and rescue resources due to the signal from the
406 beacon. The Irish Coastguard aircraft 'Casa Maritime
Patrol' located the fishermen relatively quickly and a nearby
ship, the Ultra Large Crude Carrier 'Front Commander'
was asked to turn around and send its ship's lifeboats out to
rescue the fishermen who were then taken back to the ship, before
being airlifted off by a UK military helicopter.
"These seven fishermen almost certainly owe their lives to
the 406Mhz beacon which they had onboard," says Andy
Cattrell, a Watch Manager at Falmouth Coastguard. "The two
men whose liferaft was deflated had been in the water for nearly
five hours by the time that they were found and it is incredible
that they survived as long as they did. It would have been very
difficult to find them if they had only had the old 121.5/243 MHz
beacon onboard. The crude carrier also did an impressive job of
manoeuvring close to the liferafts, launching their ship's
boat and rescuing the fishermen."
"For all vessels from the smallest yacht to the largest
ship, the 406 beacon really can make a massive difference in the
time that it will take us to find you."
Press releases and further information about the Agency is
available on the Web at http://www.mcga.gov.uk