EPIRB PLB Distress Beacons

Spend a few minutes as a Skipper and just think about your crew while watching his story - beacon activated, lifejackets on.

Steve Collins had a plan for his retirement, to buy a boat and sail it to New Zealand. Not long after setting off things started to go wrong leading to a dramatic rescue off the Australian coast. Steve came to visit the men and women at AMSA who coordinated his rescue and told us his story.

Part 1:
...

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) are responsible for all maritime search and rescue in Australia.

How long before a distress signal is received?


A distress beacon (EPIRB or PLB) with an encoded (GPS) location is usually detected by the RCC 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. If ...