1. What are EPIRBs?

A plb is a compact portable beacon and is designed to be worn or carried by an individual. Some plbs do not float and may not be designed for use in water . A plb usually has a shorter battery life than an epirb and will only operate for approximately 24hrs. Your plb must meet australian standard 4280. 2 and have an in date battery. Epirbs and plbs should only be used when: there is an emergency and you believe you are in imminent danger; or when you are told to do so by a rescue authority. In the event of an emergency, you should also consider initial communications with others close by using radios and other signalling devices.

An eprib is a compact, buoyant, self contained radio beacon which continuously emits a distinctive radio signal to a satellite for at least 48 hours when activated. Make sure your epirb is gps activated for better accuracy. Also ensure it is registered with amsa. This is a legal requirement and will hasten any rescue. When the signal is detected, the rescue coordination centre in canberra initiates a response using locally based rescue services. Epirbs should only be used as a last resort when in imminent danger. Other communications such as a radio and flares should be used first. Ensure your epirb container is not cracked or showing signs of damage and batteries are within their shelf life.

Epirbs (emergency position radio beacons) are specially built radio transmitters that send out a 406 mhz emergency signal to orbiting cospas/sarsat satellites which relay the boat’s location to rescue agencies around the world. Many epirbs now include a built-in gps or can be connected to a gps, which can shorten the time it takes to pinpoint the epirbs location and effect a rescue. Epirbs are only to be used when there is immediate danger to lives or a chance of losing the vessel. Category i and category ii.

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2. What is the difference between an EPIRB and a PLB?

In this guide, we will briefly summarise what the difference is between a plb and an epirb, despite being similar in design and function, they both provide a potential lifeline to seafarers.

3. There are how many types of EPIRBs?

The 406 mhz satellite epirb is a small battery-powered transmitting device designed to provide rapid alerting, identification and accurate location information to search and rescue crews. As the name implies, it is used only in case of emergency and usually only as a last resort when your marine radio is inoperable or out of range. There are several types of epirbs. If disaster strikes, some float free and automatically activate – others must be activated manually. All epirbs float and will send out a continual signal for 48 hours. Since epirb signals are primarily detected by satellites that pass overhead, occasionally there may be a delay in detection (perhaps an hour) if there is no satellite currently in the area to pick up the signal.

4. How much does an EPIRB cost?

Just one hour had elapsed from the time of activation until rescue should an emergency occur in a remote location, an epirb or plb can be the best – and sometimes only – way to alert rescue organisations. Two people were rescued from the ocean off the west australian cost after an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (epirb) alerted authorities. The australian maritime safety authority (amsa) rescue coordination centre in canberra called western australia police to advise that an epirb was activated near exmouth. The epirb was registered with amsa to an owner from victoria. After contacting the next of kin listed on the registration, amsa learned that the owner was on a fishing trip in exmouth, on wa’s north west cape.

Current marine epirbs are generally divided into three classes; category i, category ii, and class b (or category b). Category i epirbs are considered the best but are also the most costly. The category i - type is recommended by the imo because a float-free bracket will deploy automatically once the vessel sinks and the epirb will then be activated automatically by immersion in water in the event of a disaster at sea. These epirbs are generally housed in a specially designed bracket on deck and the buoyant beacon is designed to rise to the surface and emit two signals, an emergency homing signal on 121.

5. How long does an EPIRB last?

When an epirb is activated it transmits a distress message containing the beacon's unique id eg. 15 character uin or hex id. The rescue coordination centre (rcc) will receive the beacon's distress alert message and search the registration database to identify the owner, emergency contacts, vessel, aircraft, vehicle and trip details. The rcc will attempt to contact the registered owner and/or emergency contacts to confirm if an inadvertent activation or true distress situation has occurred. A distress beacon with an encoded (gps) location is usually detected and located within minutes. Distress beacons that do not have the capability to provide an encoded position also provide an initial alert to the rcc within minutes, but there will be no associated position.

Epirb stands for emergency position indicating radio beacon. It is a portable unit that runs on its own long life battery (usually a sealed lithium one). Once activated, it broadcasts its position via the cospas - sarsat polar orbiting satellite system and/or ground stations located around the earth. It can take up to 45 minutes for a position fix dependent on the location of the satellites in orbit. Once identified, the system can usually determine the position of an epirb to within 3 nautical miles, although gps-enabled epirbs now have the ability to pinpoint an epirb’s position to within 50 metres or less within 3 minutes of activation.

Ais- equipped epirbs and plbs transmit on 406 mhz, 121. 5 mhz (the international aviation distress frequency and utilised for local homing by aircraft) and ais. The hex id and position details are transmitted on 406 mhz. When a beacon is activated the signal is detected by the global cospas-sarsat satellite system and relayed to the amsa rescue coordination centre, which then coordinates a rescue response. Every beacon is pre-programmed by the manufacturer with a plb ais user id 972xxyyyy or epirb ais user id 974xxyyyy. This is labelled on the beacon near the hex id. The ais user id can be registered on the amsa beacon register alongside the beacon hex id.