Top End distress alert finds boat (Darwin)
Four Top End fishermen quickly found the life-saving value of the new-generation alert system when they activated a distress beacon near Darwin late on Saturday.
Help in the form of a CareFlight rescue helicopter arrived overhead half an hour after taking off from Darwin, after a satellite picked up the men’s beacon operating on the new 406 MHz Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon (EPIRB) system.
The motor failed on their five-metre tinnie six kilometers off Dum In Mirrie island, about 50 km south-west of Darwin.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) national co-ordination centre in Canberra called CareFlight which has a rescue-medical helicopter based in Darwin to support the NT Government.
Air crewman Ben Inglis said the four occupants of the boat had a V distress sheet tied to the cabin of their boat.
“We came in low and despite them not having a radio on board we used hand signals to tell the men their location was known and that help was on the way,” Mr Inglis said.
“We then used our marine radio to call the Control Tower Officer at East Arm Wharf in Darwin to arrange a tow and in the meantime for nearby fishing boats to stand by the stranded boat.
“In all, it took just 45 minutes after our take off from Darwin airport at 4.40 pm to find the boat, confirm their location to authorities, arrange assistance then fly back to the airport.”
Because the men were using one of the new 406 MHz beacons, it was quickly detected by satellite.
Unfortunately, though, the beacon was not registered so the men’s signal did not also give the details of the owner to speed up the contact process.
The rescue contrasted to an alert on Wednesday when a man setting off on a fishing outing from Darwin accidently activated an old beacon operating on the former 121.5 MHz frequency which is no longer monitored by satellite.
It took the pilot of an aircraft flying into Darwin to pick up the signal and alert AMSA which called CareFlight’s Darwin-based rescue helicopter.
The CareFlight crew tracked the signal from the man’s EPIRB beacon to the boat he was launching at Darwin’s Trailer Boat Club.
After tracking the moving signal along roads, the crew landed near the launching ramp as the man was preparing to set out fishing.
CareFlight said the beacon was in poor condition which led to the accidental triggering.
CareFlight said the two helicopter searches were a timely alert for recreational boating people to replace their old 121.5 MHz beacons with the more reliable 406 MHz current version of EPIRBS which can have contact details registered in case of an alert.
Since the 121.5 system was decommissioned last month, satellites no longer monitor the frequency to alert AMSA, so alerts may prove more difficult for the national search and rescue centre to detect.
Old EPIRBS should have their battery removed then safely disposed before being replaced with the new, far more reliable, 406 Beacons.
ENDS: For further information please contact NRMA CareFlight director Ian Badham on 0418 245 748.
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