IT might be a mouthful, but an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) can mean the difference between being lost at sea and drowning, or being plucked to safety.This proved true for two sailors on board the Haley earlier this week, when they were rescued by the US Coast Guard some 200 miles east of Bermuda — thanks to the life-saving signal emitted by their EPIRB.

The Mid-Ocean News spoke to Maritime Operations Controller / Radio Officer Danny Little this week about the importance of these devices and how they have revolutionised ocean rescue.

Mr. Little said the system was first used in Bermuda during the 1970s and was popular with fishermen and ocean racers around the world, but had since been upgraded thanks to improved technology.

It works something like this: A beacon is activated by a crash, a sinking, or manually by survivors.

The beacon's transmission is picked up by one or more satellites which transmits the beacon's signal to its ground control station. Depending on the programming of the beacon and arrangements of national administration, the signal will be sent to the country of registry and search and the rescue point of contact.

The ground station processes the signals and forwards the data, compiled into an alert message to the appropriate national rescue authority, which for a Bermuda-registered vessel would be the Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) based at Fort George Hill.

Responding search and rescue units would use their own receiving equipment to locate the beacon and make the rescue, or recovery. Once the satellite data is in, it takes less than a minute to forward the data to any signatory nation.

Mr. Little said the current data base carried about 1,000 EPIRBs and included passenger ships, tankers, private yachts, off-shore production vessels in the oil industry, passenger and private aircraft and helicopters.

"Bermuda is part of the prestigious Red Ensign Group and because of the high standard maintained by the group, it's an attractive registry administration and by no means a flag of convenience. This is an attractive reason to register a ship or aircraft in Bermuda," he said.

RCC Bermuda manages the 406 MHz registry on behalf of the Department of Telecommunications and for EPIRBs the Department of Maritime Administration, and for 406 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitters (like the EPIRB used on board aircraft) on behalf of the Department of Civil Aviation.

"It had been mandatory for vessels over a certain tonnage and in specific services to carry EPIRBs since 1992 under the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System and many private craft have elected to carry these devices voluntarily for those same reasons as demonstrated over the last week with the spectacular Haley rescue," he added.

He said the first two personal locator beacons were registered last week in Bermuda and were similar to the devices recently used by climbers rescued on Mount Hood in northern Oregon.

But he was quick to add that these PLBs had to be used with great discretion and were actually prohibited in some countries.

Mr. Little strongly urged anyone considering purchasing a system to contact RCC Bermuda first.

There are different types of EPIRBs — or 406 MHz beacons — on the market.

"They are sold pre-programmed in North America and the UK, which causes enormous problems when they are brought back to Bermuda. We have a different programming country code to these other countries and by talking to us prior to purchasing one, instructions for re-programming them before they are brought to Bermuda can be provided, so saving a lot of time and money," he said.

The older EPIRBs, introduced in the 1960s and '70s, transmit an analogue signal on 121.5 MHz. According to Mr. Little, the system is set to be phased out in February 2009 and as of December last year, it is now illegal to use these devices in the US.

"As for the new EPIRBs, the detection capability of the 406 MHz is better and its unique signal processing and routing is faster and more specific," he added.

When a new 406 MHz device is brought into Bermuda, Mr. Little pointed out the importance of having it registered with RCC Bermuda: "Each beacon is issued a unique association with a vessel, carrier or aircraft. This unique association determines programming and when the beacon is programmed properly, it has a unique ID signal to that particular vessel."

Registration is a free service. Just as important is re-programming the beacons once a carrying vessel or aircraft de-registers in Bermuda and moves to another jurisdiction. The beacons will need to be re-programmed with the new Country Code and then re-registered on that new country's unique database.

The system is part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, which means no matter where on the planet you activate your device, a signal will be heard.

Mr. Little said that a few years ago a hiker in Canada's frozen wilderness ran into some trouble and activated his personal locator beacon.

"He was running while his beacon was signalling and when the rescue plane found him, he was literally separated from a polar bear by a small body of water.

"You want to know you can find help anywhere in the world, but obviously these beacons must only be used for reasons of grave and imminent danger."

[obox] Anyone interested in the subject can call RCC Bermuda at 297-1010 or e-mail it at operations@rccbermuda.bm.

The high-tech beacons of hope