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January 30, 2007

Sunken N.B. boat's emergency beacon didn't surface

An emergency radio beacon that could have emitted a satellite distress signal for the New Bedford fishing vessel that sank in Nantucket Sound Friday night or Saturday morning never had the chance to work, according to the Coast Guard.

The Lady of Grace’s Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (known as an EPIRB) appears to have released as it was designed to do – when it’s three meters underwater – but it got stuck on the vessel’s scupper and never had a chance to rise to the surface of Nantucket Sound, chief petty officer Scott Carr of the Coast Guard’s first district said this afternoon.

The EPIRB could have started emitting a signal, but its signal would have been muffled by the water, preventing a satellite from picking it up, Carr said.

The commercial fishing vessel had the most reliable type of EPIRB available, a digital 406 MHz model, which it was required to have, Carr said.

Had its signal transmitted, the Coast Guard would have known very quickly the latitude and longitude of the boat’s location and – if the crew had appropriately registered the EPIRB as the Coast Guard requires – the name and type of the boat and contact information for probably the owner and perhaps crew members.

When the Coast Guard receives such mayday signals from 406 MHz EPIRBs, rescue crews mobilize instantly, Carr said.

“They would have launched,” he said. “They would have started searching.”

With 406 MHz distress signals, the Coast Guard “immediately” moves its closest “asset” – a small boat, a cutter, a helicopter, a jet, whatever is closest – to the boat’s location, Carr said. Also, the Coast Guard would immediately issue in the boat’s general area an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast reporting a vessel in distress “because there might be another boat in the area who might be able to get there faster than you can,” he said.

It’s unknown at this time if the EPIRB was appropriately registered, Carr said. The Coast Guard may never be able to determine if its batteries were functioning at the time the boat went down. Corrosion of the EPIRB would have begun instantly in the salt water, he said.

-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson

Posted by Kate Bramson  at 2:21 PM | Permalink

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