Yesterday evening, AMSA detected an EPIRB activation about 80km north of Townsville, Queensland, from a 7.5m steel recreational vessel, Kaluga Q, with 3 people on board. We tasked our Cairns-based Challenger rescue aircraft to assist with the search. AMSA also sought assistance from a local charter fishing vessel, Tura, and Townsville Volunteer Marine Rescue. At about 8.30pm local time, the Tura and Marine Rescue located the Kaluga Q, transferred the 3 people on board Townsville VMR and towed th

We consider it's important to tell you about devices that save lives. The Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) and Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) have been shown to be useful in practice and saved many lives. Let's see how they work. PLB and EPIRB operate on the same principle: the transmitter located inside the sealed enclosure is activated and starts transmitting a digital signal at a frequency of 406 MHz. Activation can occur by force or as a result of contact with water. This si