Since
Cospas-Sarsat approval of the first models of 406 MHz EPIRBs in 1989 their
design has evolved significantly. New technologies allowed to reduce EPIRB size
and weight approximately in 3-4 times, to enhance the quality and to cut up the
cost. These factors provide increasing of customer interest in today smaller,
better and more affordable 406 MHz beacons. One of those beacons is
Cospas-Sarsat EPIRB PRO-5, URANIS’s production that meets GMDSS requirements,
SOLAS convention and IMO resolutions,has Germanischer Lloyd (“WheelMark”) certificate, Ukrainian and Russian
Maritime Register of Shipment type approval certificates and Ministry of
Transport of the Russian
Federation certification of equipment type
approval.
The most
serious aspect of achieving the Cospas-Sarsat Programming’s strategic goals and
objectives is EPIRB registration because unregistrated beacon has nothing
information about EPIRB’s owner and his location during an emergency. It delays
Search and Rescue (SAR) operations significantly and thus it may be the cause
of untimely rescue of all alive. So all beacon owners need to verify that their
EPIRB are registrated. Many beacon owners falsely believe that their EPIRB was
registrated at the point of sale or installation, however, this is not the
case.
“Proper
registration is vital in the early minutes of an emergency. Rescue centers use
the beacon registration databases to obtain critical data about EPIRB’s owner,
including emergency contact and other information that allow a search to begin
even before a final location of the activated beacon is determined. When a
beacon is not registrated there is no point of contact available to verify
whether an emergency requiring response is even necessary” – comments Mr. Dave
Fuhrman of the US Air Force Rescue Coordination Centre.
In fact,
there are cases when an EPIRB is inadvertently activated and is not
registrated, rescue personnel may be put at inappropriate situation and
beacon’s owner should have a cost loss for false alarm.
Inspite of
importance of beacon registration a consistent 30 % of the global beacon
population remains unregistrated.
In fact,
there are two ways to register a beacon:
with the national authority
associated with the country code in the beacon hexadecimal identification
(15 Hex ID); or
with the IBRD (International
Beacon Registration Database) at www.406registration.com
ifthecountry code of the beacon is not
associated with a registration facility and the country has allowed direct
registration in the IBRD.
Cospas-Sarsat
maintains an online IBRD for 406 MHz beacons. The list of countries allowing
direct registration by beacon owners in the IBRD is available on the
Cospas-Sarsat website at www.cospas-sarsat.org
where detailed contact information for national beacon registries is also
available.
From year to
year the number of countries that intended associating itself formally with the
Cospas-Sarsat Programme either as a Ground Segment Provider or as a UserState
is increasing.
However, it
should be mentioned that all Cospas-Sarsat distress alert and location data are
provided to national SAR authorities worldwide, with no discrimination,
independent of the participation of countries in the management of the
Programme.
If You have
any problems in the EPIRB registration or You need additional information
connect with us info@uranis.net