ARTICLE
"WHY COSPAS-SARSAT IS CRITICAL TO SAVING LIVES"

(Reprinted with permission from Paul Steward, Program Manager, SAR & Surveillance Systems, Seimac Limited)

This case underscores the importance of Cospas-Sarsat as a global lifesaving capability. The case took place in the Atlantic Ocean, but could have easily taken place in the remote Canadian Yukon, the South Pacific, or the Australian Outback. The bottom line here is that when there is no other means of alerting  - the radio is not working, the cell phone crapped out, the flares are wet, the last match for a signal fire blew out - if you have a Cospas-Sarsat beacon and push that little button, or flip that switch, and BAM!! a global satellite system dedicated entirely to distress alerting kicks into action....

In this case a Canadian registered 43-foot sailing vessel, the EMILIEN II, found themselves in trouble about 60 miles southeast of Bermuda in 20-foot seas and 40+ knots winds.  Around 10:30 am on the 2nd of February EPIRB registered to this vessel was activated and the alert was received by RCC Bermuda.  Because the EPIRB was registered, RCC Bermuda received the name and description of the vessel with the alert.  With that information the watchstanders were able to determine that the vessel had departed Bermuda the night before enroute ST Marteen in the Caribbean with 4 persons onboard.

Armed with this information, RCC Bermuda requested a USCG C-130 to conduct a search of the immediate area surrounding the alert position. RCC Bermuda also diverted a merchant vessel, the 900-foot Liberian registered YEOMAN BROOK, that was 25 miles from the distress position.

The vessel arrived on scene first and reported high winds and heavy seas.  THE USCG C-130 arrived on scene at just before 4:00 pm and commenced searching for the vessel, debris, life rafts, or people in the water.  After a little over two hours and just before nightfall, the aircraft spotted a life raft with four people inside.  The M/V YEOMAN BROOK recovered the four survivors in good health and continued enroute to Nova Scotia, Canada.

Obviously something bad happened to the S/V EMILIEN II, and the only alert received was from their Cospas-Sarsat beacon.

So the Question is: What do you get when you combine an activated and properly registered 406 MHz EPIRB, the Cospas-Sarsat satellite distress alerting system, dedicated rescue personnel from Bermuda and the U.S., and a Liberian-flagged merchant vessel? 

The Answer: You get 4 people alive and well, who otherwise would, in all likelihood, be dead and gone.