Category: System Overview

The safety of volunteer rescue vessel crew members at Marine Rescue Iluka Yamba has been improved, thanks to an Australian Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal (FRRR) grant.

The grant, provided under the FRRR Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program, enabled the unit to purchase state-of-the-art 406 PLBs for rescue vessel crew members that are installed in life jackets.

Newly installed Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology means beacons will also transmit a signal that the rescue vessel can receive to quickly locate a person in the water.

Read more here:

https://clarencevalleynews.com.au/community-volunteers-safer-thanks-to-generous-grant/

New Zealand biker survives accident due to fast thinking fellow biker’s activation of a PLB.
For more see https://www.acrartex.com/survivor-stories/20-minutes-to-survival-helicopter-rescue-saves-biker-with-lacerated-spleen/

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CMCC Activity Report – November 2024

South Africa’s latest news bulletin is available at https://www.transport.gov.za/?page_id=2670

Interesting articles inside address meetings and activities to support search and rescue in South Africa.

Two people and their dog were rescued after their boat stopped working over 50 miles from shore over the weekend.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the 38-foot boat stopped working 55 miles from Palm Coast.

Following a 406 beacon distress signal from an EPIRB, a Clearwater station aircraft was able to find the stranded boaters and guide water crews to their location.

Read more here:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/coast-guard-rescues-2-people-and-their-dog-55-miles-from-florida-coast/ar-BB1peiQV?ocid=BingNewsVerp&apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

The 23.1m twin-rig trawler was reportedly around 140 miles east of Montrose, Scotland, when she transmitted a distress signal requesting assistance.

All vessels in the vicinity were requested to assist in a rescue operation overseen by the Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

A nearby fishing vessel responded and was able to track the 406 EPIRB distress beacon, which had been activated when ship sank.

Thankfully the vessel located the six-man crew all safe and well aboard its liferaft, and was able to transfer them safely aboard.

A fixed-wing search aircraft was deployed by HM Coastguard, and a rescue helicopter was sent to the scene from Norway.

Read more here:
https://fishingnews.co.uk/news/odyssey-sinks-in-north-sea/

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CMCC Activity Report – October 2024

The USA’s National Coast Guard Museum will afford visitors the opportunity to journey through the history and evolution of search and rescue (SAR), from the mission’s infancy to modern-day practices.

In the earliest days of search and rescue along the shore, “there wasn’t a way for shore-based units to communicate beyond line of sight with a vessel or person in distress.”

Things evolved toward things like the breeches buoy, developed in the mid-19th century and was essentially a life ring with a pair of pants sewn on the inside. 

“It wasn’t until circa 1906 when shipboard communication became standardized and the first international radio telegraph convention adopted SOS as the international distress signal,” 

“The first search and rescue satellite came online in the mid-80s,” said Ed Thiedeman, a search and rescue systems specialist at Coast Guard Headquarters.

In essence, it’s a similar technology to that of a mobile phone.

It allows for more 406 beacons to be operated simultaneously without interfering with each other, Thiedeman said.

It enables rescuers to determine a more precise location of a mariner or vessel in distress.

Read more here:

https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/the-evolution-of-modern-search-and-rescue

A fishing boat captain headed into the water off the Gulf Coast to make repairs on his vessel hours before Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida.

He ended up stranded in the storm, which made landfall on Wednesday night — battling waves up to 25 feet high and whipping winds of up to 90 mph.

As conditions began deteriorating with Milton’s approach, Coast Guard officials told the man to wear a life jacket and to hold onto the boat’s 406 beacon so he could be located.

Hours later, around 6:45 p.m. — about two hours before Milton made landfall some 20 miles south of John’s Pass — the agency lost contact with the captain.

“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner.”

“He survived because of a life jacket, his [406] emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler.”

Read more and see video footage here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/10/11/hurricane-milton-coast-guard-rescue-man-clinging-cooler/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3f431aa%2F67094b1887d54347a84c290f%2F59794962ae7e8a6816ecc4cb%2F24%2F56%2F67094b1887d54347a84c290f

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CMCC Activity Report – September 2024