Category: System Overview

NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service team took time at Thanksgiving to thank the little things that help them accomplish their big-picture goals.

Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are palm-sized beacons that allow individuals lost anywhere in the world to be found by Search and Rescue teams.

PLBs with additional GPS-encoded positions dramatically improve location accuracy down to the 100-meter level, roughly the size of a football field.

Read more here:
http://www.weathernationtv.com/news/noaa-satellites-feeling-thankful-thanksgiving/ 

Four South African sailors en route to the Seychelles activated their EPIRB and were detected by the ASMCC and the alert passed to MRCC in Capetown for dispatching of SAR services.

The crew were rescued from their life raft by a nearby tanker that was en route to the United Arab Emirates.

Read more here:
https://southcoastherald.co.za/249030/south-coast-man-rescued-sinking-yacht-off-mozambique/ 

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The deaths of four Newfoundland cod fishermen in rough weather last summer has prompted a call for better Canadian federal safety regulations regarding the use of emergency beacons, immersions suits, vessel stability and fisheries management measures.

The recommendations are among a long list of suggestions the board has been making for several years to reduce fatalities in an industry that is widely regarded as the most dangerous in Canada.

Read more here:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/fatal-capsizing-off-cape-spear-prompts-calls-for-better-federal-safety-rules/article37108861/ 

Following multiple MEOSAR and LEOSAR distress beacon alerts, a New Zealand rescue aircraft was diverted having completed a tasking from another incident to respond to a yacht .

The Norwegian sailor whose yacht sustained damage from storms 172 nautical miles ENE of New Zealand waved at the rescue crew, being unable to radio them.

The rescue crew dropped a survival pack to him and once contact was established they reported that he was happy to wait for assistance as the yacht was still able to make way.

The next day, a cargo ship diverted there but rough seas prevented them from lowering their rescue boat, so a net was lowered to the sailor.

After two attempts, the sailor was rescued and taken on board the ship.

He was reported to be in good health but cold having spent some time in the water.

The cargo ship arrived in Auckland Monday afternoon 20 November, and the Norwegian Honorary Consul was at her berth on arrival to assist the yachtsman as necessary.

Read more here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11945402 

See video and commentary here:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11945654

Please click to access the Summary of FMCC activity – September 2017.

Please click to access the Summary of FMCC activity – October 2017.

JRCC Tahiti detected a signal which provided the first and only distress alert from the Cospas-Sarsat distress beacon of a 29-meter Taiwanese fishing vessel.

Rescuers were dispatched and dropped a life raft to the scene.

The 14 Taiwanese and Indonesian sailors were evacuated from the ship that had run aground, and only one was injured.

Read more here:
http://www.maritimeherald.com/2017/fourteen-fishermen-rescued-grounding-ship/ 

The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme has made available on its website new videos produced to educate users about the System, particularly the MEOSAR system.

The videos are streamed from YouTube, so please “like” the videos and subscribe to the channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button on the main YouTube page here: Subscribe

New System graphics have also been created in both ultra-realistic and wireframe formats for use in presentations, etc.

The new video and graphics pages are accessible from the main Cospas-Sarsat webpage in the Media Gallery menu, or through the following direct links:

• Programme videos (has links to the YouTube video playlists): http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/search-and-rescue/programme-videos-en
• System graphics: http://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/search-and-rescue/system-graphics-en

The Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat hosted the 31st Joint Committee Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada chaired by Mr. Michael Donald from Canada. The OWG and TWG were chaired by Mr. Allan Knox from the USA and Mr. Yoan Gregoire from France.

The meeting was attended by 176 people, and included delegates from the four Cospas-Sarsat Parties, thirty Participant countries, one Non-Participant country considering association with the Programme, four Observer organisations, and members of the Secretariat.

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Within minutes of initial detection, rescuers were tasked to the scene of an upturned boat, sighting three in life jackets.

Two were winched from the water and the third pulled to safety two hours after the initial signal was sent.

Read more here:
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/three-people-saved-after-holding-onto-boat-for-hours-in-dramatic-sea-rescue-20171012-gyzsk6.html 

In commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the first rescue that used Cospas-Sarsat alert data, the Russian Space System has published a special issue of its magazine:

https://yadi.sk/i/uoQBpNEz3NRRK5