Hoax alerts
AMSA Seeks your assistance
The incidence of hoax activations
of EPIRBs is increasing across Australia. In the last six months there
have been some 30 malicious or hoax activations of EPIRBs. Because these
beacons need to be tracked down so that they do not interfere with signals
from beacons in real distress situations, there is a real chance that
the hoax activation could cause a scarce resource, such as an emergency
helicopter, not to be available when a real distress or emergency occurs.
As a consequence, AMSA is focusing
on boat owners and asking that they secure their EPIRBs carefully when
the boat is not in use.
There are a number of very good
grab bags and waterproof containers on the market that owners can purchase
to carry their EPIRB, flares, torch and other personal safety equipment
in. These can be carried on and off the boat or secured in the cabin where
they cannot be easily removed. When the boat is in use the grab bag or
container can be moved to a place where it can be easily grabbed if there
is a distress situation.
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