Displaying items by tag: ELT

21st October 2012

Coastguard Urges Proper Use of Emergency Locators After Midweek Incident

#COASTGUARD - The Irish Coast Guard has urged any sailors or aviators using emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) to take care with their use and storage after an incident last week, The Irish Times reports.

A major search and rescue operation was mounted after a signal from an aircraft emergency beacon was detected by the Valentia coastguard station and Shannon air traffic control on Wednesday night.

Two rescue helicopters and numerous ground crews were involved in the search for what was thought to be a crashed small aircraft before the beacon was found at the rear of a property on Thursday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard said: “We would ask anyone who who has one of these devices to ensure it is properly stored and not allowed to decay.

"If the battery in one of these units dies or the device is allowed to short-circuit because of dampness, the ELT will activate."

Published in Coastguard

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ComReg launches Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) Registration Website

Personal Locator Beacons, or PLBs, are portable radio transmitters, which aid the Search & Rescue (SAR) emergency services in the detection and location of persons in distress. These devices operate in a similar manner to Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRBs) onboard vessels and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) onboard aircraft, but are unique in that they for personal use and are not registered to a particular vessel or aircraft.

ELTs and EPIRBs have been in operation for several years are proven technologies, which have resulted in many successful search and rescues missions since their inception. More recently technological advances have enabled the construction of light-weight, hand-portable distress transmitters and hence the relatively recent emergence of PLBs onto the market.

In order to maximise the effectiveness of PLB usage, each PLB should be registered so that owner details as well as location details can be communicated to the emergency services which in many cases assists in speeding up rescue operations.

PLB owners can now register their PLB in Ireland using ComReg's new web portal. For more information on how to register your PLB please go to www. Comreg.ie or contact [email protected] or phone 01 804 9600.

Published in Marine Warning

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour