Mariners are being urged to upgrade their emergency beacons before a new system comes into operation.

According to Bermuda Maritime Operations, people relying on frequency 121.5 MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB) have until February 1 to upgrade their units.

At that point, the satellite system will stop monitoring this frequency, which has been superseded by the higher tech frequency of 406 MHz, and distress signals will no longer be transmitted.

"Local boaters still carrying on-board their boats a Class A or Class B EPIRB — a radio beacon that operates solely on the distress frequency of 121.5 MHz — need to be aware that as of February 1 the portion of the satellite system that monitors this distress frequency will cease operations," said Scott Simmons, Safety and Security Coordinator for Bermuda Maritime Operations.

"We suspect that there are probably only a handful of these older EPIRBs remaining in Bermuda — but we have no way of knowing for certain," he added.

There are currently two internationally sanctioned satellite alerting distress frequencies — the older 121.5 MHz (analogue) and the more recently introduced 406 MHz (digital).

Anybody who still has an older model unit should remove it from their boat or storage place, disconnect the battery, and turn it in to the Department of Marine and Ports Services; the Police Marine Division at Barr's Bay, Hamilton; or the Yacht Reporting Centre at Ordnance Island, St. George's for destruction and disposal.

People planning to buy a new EPIRB you should contact the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre before purchase in order to minimise programming costs and registration mistakes.

The decision to drop processing of 121.5 MHz was made by the International Cospas-Sarsat Program with guidance from the United Nations following signal reception problems and a high incidence of false alerts.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is responsible for operating and maintaining the system in the US, they have a 97 percent false alarm rate, activate properly in only 12 percent of crashes, and provide no identification data.

False alerts can be generated by anything from ATM machines to pizza ovens, meaning that every 121.5 MHz hit must be independently verified to check that it is a genuine distress call.

"Looking back, the 121.5 MHz beacons have served their purpose and are known to have saved thousands of lives globally since 1982 when the Cospas-Sarsat satellites that orbit around the poles of the earth were first launched," said Mr. Simmons.

"It is a search and rescue technology that has been superseded internationally in the same way that Morse code was in 1999."

While the new digital 406 MHz units also communicate by satellite, they transmit a stronger signal and are more accurate, verifiable and traceable.

The Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre reports 621 such beacons currently fitted aboard ships and private yachts, plus a further 768 on-board Bermuda registered aircraft.

"The satellite alert that results from the detection of a Bermuda beacon transmitting anywhere in the world is routed to us in minutes", said Mr. Simmons.

"We are able to then verify who owns the beacon and whether the alert is genuine before launching an appropriate search and rescue operation to the distress position."

Further information can be found on the Maritime Operations Centre website at www.marops.bm or telephone 297-1010 (24 hours).