PORTSMOUTH, Va. – The Coast Guard urges mariners to ensure their digital selective calling VHF-FM marine-band radios, emergency position indicating radio beacons and personal locator beacons are properly registered and updated regularly to reduce response times for rescuers.
During the past four years, the Coast Guard’s 5th District and other partnering agencies have responded to dozens of cases dealing with unregistered DSC VHF-FM radios, EPIRBs and PLBs resulting in nearly $250,000 worth of response to these cases.
“The biggest issue we have with these searches is the unregistered or improperly registered electronic devices on board,” said Geoff Pagels, a search and rescue specialist for the Coast Guard’s 5th District in Portsmouth. “When a boater ensures the DSC radio, EPIRB or PLB is registered properly, it could mean the difference between a rescue in minutes and a rescue in hours, even days.”
If the EPIRB and PLB are properly registered, the Coast Guard will be able to use the registration information to take action on a distress call immediately. If the EPIRB or PLB is unregistered, the alert may take as much as two hours longer to reach the Coast Guard over the international satellite system. If an unregistered EPIRB or PLB transmission is shortened for any reason, the satellite will be unable to determine the location and the Coast Guard will be unable to respond accurately to the distress alert.
That inability to respond is why the Coast Guard believes it is imperative to properly register and regularly update all satellite emergency notification devices. Other devices that should be registered include DSC VHF-FM marine-band radios and PLBs.
DSC is a digital transfer between radios versus voice transmission. DSC is part of the Global Maritime Distress Signaling System and allows mariners to instantly send an automatically formatted distress alert to the Coast Guard, provided the radio is registered with a Maritime Mobile Service Identity number and connected to a compatible GPS unit. Once the properly connected and MMSI registered radio sends the automated message over the airwaves on channel 70, the signal will continue to "bounce" from vessel to vessel until it arrives at a Coast Guard shore station. Once the signal is received at the shore station, it will be acknowledged by the watchstander sending a signal back to the source radio.
With a properly registered device, the Coast Guard can begin searching immediately upon receiving the signal and precious time that could be the difference between life and death is not spent looking in the wrong location. Unregistered information forces the service to act as a detective before it can act as a lifesaver.
To register or update your EPIRB and PLB information go to http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov/.
To obtain a free MMSI number for your DSC radio you may do this at http://www.boatus.com/mmsi, www.seatow.com, http://www.usps4mmsi.com, https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsEntry/licManager/login.jsp.
To schedule a USCG Auxiliary Vessel Safety Check utilize the following website http://www.safetyseal.net/GetVSC/.
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