Sydney - July 17 2012
GME EPIRB saves Scottish fishermen after trawler blaze.
On July 10, six fishermen were airlifted from a liferaft after their trawler caught fire about 50 nautical miles east of Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
The alarm was raised when a massive blaze broke out on board the Banff registered, 22 m wooden trawler Denarius. Given the nature and intensity of the fire the skipper immediately ordered the crew into their liferaft and activated a GME MT403 Emergency Beacon.
Before After
The EPIRB’s emergency signal was relayed to the UK MRCC in Falmouth, who after checking the registration details and contacting the vessel owners, issued a Mayday call to all vessels in the vicinity and scrambled the Shetland Coastguard helicopter.
An air and sea search commenced in the area, with the helicopter using its onboard radio direction finding equipment to locate the liferaft’s EPIRB signal; eventually winching the crew to safety and transferring them to Lerwick hospital for medical checks.
Shetland coastguard watch manager David Robinson said; "The ability of the crew to activate their EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) in this incident was absolutely crucial as we were immediately passed information on their location, vessel name and shore contact which, in the absence of the ability to communicate directly with the vessel, meant that we were able to quickly send help to their position.
"We would like to thank the crew of the several vessels and helicopter that helped in locating the Denarius and providing on scene assistance."
GME’s award winning EPIRBs are designed and manufactured by Standard Communications Pty. Ltd. in Australia.
For additional information on GME EPIRBs, please contact:
UK – info@sartech.com Other areas – enquiries@gme.net.au