False alarm timely reminder to keep equipment up to date
TIMELY REMINDER
Boat owners and skippers have been urged to regularly check their safety equipment after a false EPIRB alarm triggered a rescue response in Douglas waters just a short time ago.
The president of Marine Rescue Port Douglas, Ross Wood said an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) was set off on Sunday afternoon giving the precise latitude and longitude of the emergency position – a point between Port Douglas and Snapper Island.
Seafarers usually only set off their EPIRB in dire emergency such as a threatened sinking.
A fixed wing aircraft and helicopter were immediately dispatched from Cairns and the Rescue Vessel Port Douglas left for the spot within 15 minutes.
But there was nothing in the water at the emergency spot. No radio contact with two nearby vessels could be made.
The EPRIB on one was intact. The other vessel was approached by RV Port Douglas and the rescue helicopter, to the surprise of the skipper and a boy on board.
His EPIRB’s number matched the triggered one. It was out of date and in poor condition. It has been sent to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra which will decide what action to take against the skipper and owner.
Mr Wood urged boat owners and skippers to regularly check their safety equipment and to ensure they comply with off shore requirements: usually a radio; EPIRB and flares.
“It is the skipper’s responsibility to ensure compliance,” he said. “Failure to comply can result in a fine.
“More importantly, false alarms can be costly and put rescuers usually volunteers to unnecessary risk and inconvenience.
“The only upside was proof that the EPIRB system and the response to it worked extremely well. If a vessel had sunk putting people in the water they would have almost certainly been rescued. In the absence of an EPIRB their chances would have been grim.”
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