GPS Distress Beacons Save 12 in One Day

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority responded to two separate maritime emergency beacon activations, resulting in the rescue of 12 people.

Just after 3 pm AEST AMSA detected an emergency beacon registered to a five metre fishing vessel approximately 41km North East of Darwin near the Vernon Islands.

AMSA tasked a Darwin-based Dornier 328 search and rescue aircraft to the scene where they discovered the semi submerged hull of the vessel.

A short time later the two occupants were sighted on a navigational mark a short distance away.

A nearby passenger ferry was tasked to the area and both people were recovered safely and returned to Darwin.

The two reported that they had been diving and upon returning to the surface had discovered their vessel had sunk.

At about 6 pm AEST AMSA detected another beacon about 2,037 KM West of the Cocos (Keeling) islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

AMSA made contact with a nearby merchant ship who reported a Taiwanese fishing vessel on fire nearby.

The merchant vessel was able to safely recover all 10 crew who had abandoned ship onto a rubber mattress.

The crew reported the ship had caught fire after an explosion in the engine room. The merchant vessel will continue to Durban in South Africa where the fishermen will depart.

“These incidents show how valuable an emergency beacon is when you are going to remote areas. A properly registered, GPS encoded, 406MHZ distress beacon is your best chance of being rescued in an emergency,”  AMSA said in a release.