• Statistics on the number of SAR events and persons rescued assisted by information from Cospas-Sarsat
• System coverage maps
• Space and Ground Segment equipment availability
• Type approved 406 MHz beacons
• Estimated 406 MHz beacon population
• The list of countries and organisations that manage the Programme and operate the System

Three French yachtsmen owe their lives today to their 406 MHz EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) when rescued over 500 miles off course, in the Atlantic.

At 7:25am Falmouth Coastguard received 406 beacon alert from the French Maritime Authority stating that the vessel concerned was in the UKs search and rescue region. The French authorities identified the vessel as a pleasure vessel, a Beneteau 38 named Idem but could not ascertain its owners due to the fact the vessel had been sold and the new owners details could not be located.

Subsequent alerts assisted in pinpointing the position of the vessel and the Spanish and French Maritime Authorities issued radio broadcasts to shipping in the area. Falmouth Coastguard put out a satellite broadcast to all ships.

Henry Purbrick, Watch Officer, Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, said:

As a result of the broadcasts to shipping we had three ships offer assistance, the container vessel Wilhemshaven arrived on scene at 10:43am and in harsh weather conditions (force 7) the Captain manoeuvred the vessel with great skill to evacuate the yachtsmen from their yacht; which has now been abandoned.

The yachtsmen were on passage from Iceland and were due in Brittany yesterday. We understand they had experienced engine failure, sailing difficulties and were in risk of losing all power.

We cannot stress how important it is to carry a registered EPIRB on board your vessel, it certainly saved the lives of these three yachtsmen.

Source: UK Maritime and Coast Guard Agency

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• Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) for aviation use
• Emergency Position-Indicating Radiobeacons (EPIRBs) for maritime use
• Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs)
• Ship Security Alert System (SSAS) Beacons

Only beacons operating at 406 MHz are compatible with the Cospas-Sarsat System.

Assistance in selecting a 406 MHz beacon and beacon message protocol is provided in the selection and coding tutorial. An interactive description of the coding of 406 MHz beacons is provided in the beacon coding guidelines.

The information provided in this portion of the web site is intended to amplify the information provided in the following Cospas-Sarsat System documents:

• C/S T.001 "Specification for Cospas-Sarsat 406 MHz Distress Beacons";
• C/S T.015 "Cospas-Sarsat Specification and Type Approval Standard for 406 MHz Ship Security Alert System (SSAS) Beacons";
• C/S S.007 "Handbook of Beacon Regulations"; and
• C/S G.005 "Cospas-Sarsat Guidelines on 406 MHz Beacon Coding, Registration, and Type Approval".

The above documents can be downloaded free of charge from this web site, following the links at the top of this page. If the information provided on the web site conflicts with that provided in documents C/S T.001, T.015 and G.005, the official documents take precedence.

Furthermore, individual administrations may have additional national beacon technical and coding requirements that are not addressed in the above documents.

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Documents

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If you use any of this material, please credit the appropriate organization.

If you need something not on this website, please contact the Secretariat.

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