On September 10, 1982, three passengers aboard a light aircraft crashed into the sea off the Canadian Maritimes. They were able to deploy their life raft and they had with them the earliest version an Emergency Position Indicating Beacon (EPIRB). They switched it on and set in motion the very first COSPAS-SARSAT rescue.
They were found and rescued in a matter of hours instead of the days such search and rescue missions took before the satellite rescue system was in place. Since then, more than 50,000 people have been saved from a watery end by EPIRB technology.
For those of use heading offshore, the risk of losing the boat is relatively small, albeit real, so carrying an EPIRB is essential. But, the risk of falling overboard is more common and the window of success for making an MOB rescue is usually quite short.
The development of Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) linked the satellite rescue system to every individual wearing a PLB. This was a huge advance in safety at sea.
But, since it takes hours for the EPIRB SOS signal to be processed and an MOB alert issued, the rescue window might close before help can be on the way. The Automatic Identification System AIS), which is mandated on commercial vessel and carried by most private boats, adds a new arrow to the satellite rescue quiver.
New PLBs, with the satellite 406 signal, now are equipped with an AIS VHF signal that can be received by all vessels near the MOB. The ACR RescueLink with AIS is just such a PLB and is the complete safety package. This year, the ACR model’s signal can be displayed on a smart-phone app, too.
Even at two in the morning on a dark and stormy night, the crew of a vessel looking for their mate in the water will have a direct signal and an exact position pictured right on their chartplotter. What would have been a needle-in-the-haystack search, becomes now an exercise in homing-in on the victim.
If you are going to be out on the water, it makes sense to wear a high quality inflatable life jacket with a harness and to have an AIS configured PLB attached to it. Knowing you can be saved quickly shouldn’t make you bolder or reckless, but it can indeed help you live longer.
