marine communication, search and rescue coordination and local vessel control, a top sailing magazine says.

Bermuda Harbour Radio has been that facility since it took over the role of the US Coast Guard in 1967. The only condition was Bermuda would assume search and rescue coordination for the western North Atlantic.

Cruising World, a prominent yachting magazine published in Newport, Rhode Island, profiled Bermuda Harbour Radio in its May 1994 issue. It also mentioned that "Bermuda's low-lying land and outlying reefs have made it a graveyard for ships since soon after Columbus. Harbour Radio, formed in 1952, provides its service on a 24-hour basis with a crew of just five or six making it "a truly unique installation'', the article said.