How do EPIRBs locate a sinking ship?

When a ship sinks, the first priority of any rescuer is to actually locate the vessel in distress. It may seem easy, but in comparison to the size of an ocean, its not!

That's where an EPIRB comes in. An EPIRB is an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, and it is one of the most important pieces of safety equipment that is carried.

It transmits the location of the distress to satellites orbiting the earth, allowing rescuers to find you.

In this video, we take a look at how EPIRBs work, and see what you can do to make sure they work properly.

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[zidingo]

i go at a maritime school in norway, and our teacher always shows your videos every friday. keep making these videos!!!

[ThatGuy-vwgc]

Stuff like this still continues to baffle me, something so small is so vital and useful.

[RickyJr]

In June 2017, Queen Mary 2 rescued solo yachtsman Mervyn Wheatley from his disabled craft Tamarind in the Atlantic. Speaking to us later, he said Tamarind had taken on water after capsizing in the storm, and his EPIRB was triggered by falling into it (along with his previously dry socks!). He canceled that original distress call because Tamarind at first seemed salvageable, but upon realizing her steering gear was beyond repair he switched on the EPIRB manually. That call eventually brought QM2 alongside. If I recall, it was some 32 hours between his capsizing and rescue- quite the ordeal.

[drewdurant]

I have an inherent fear of the ocean. Never will I find myself on a vessel out at sea. I appreciate your channel because it gives me a glimpse into that world in which I fear. Thank you

[mrmato]

I am going to send this link to the Danish Maritime Academy, I really love your videos and they are really great education for new crew members!

[Insecuretaco]

My job is programming theese when they are installed or replaced. The ships VDR (black box for ships) also has a EPIRB with data storage on it. This one is the most important EPIRB as it has details of everything that may have caused the vessel to sink/crash stored in it.

[squillamsquallace]

I worked on boats for months and checking the EPERB was a major part of our maintenance.

[AGENTist]

Just finished my GMDSS course for the GOC(General Operator Certificate) and passed it. EPIRB was the most tricky to describe, yet its one of the most vital equipment in the GMDSS. Always study and safe seas for all Mariners out there !

[tedhenkle]

Great and informative video!
I work for Washington State Emergency Management, (USA). We’re familiar with EPIRBs but any activations are handled by the US Coast Guard. We mostly get involved with similar devices—PLBs—Personal Locator Beacons and aircraft ELTs (Emergency Location Transmitters) during Search and Rescue (SAR) missions. Some devices have phone and text capability so you can communicate the nature of the emergency. A couple words of advice: First if you buy one of these devices enter your registration data as completely as possible. This improves the chances of being able to identify you, and contact you or a family member. Second, don’t “test” the device. As the video mentions, once the beacon is activated, it sends a signal to a Rescue Coordination Center, who will contact an agency like ours, and we in-turn will contact the county sheriff’s office. So you’ll end up getting at least three agencies spun-up over a false activation.

[megand]

I LOVE your videos! I never knew anything about ships before I started watching your channel a few days ago and I'm addicted. I think I've found a new passion? MUM IM GOING TO BOAT SCHOOL

[daetslovactmandcarry]

And...
If you manually activate it, point it AWAY from you body... The antenna extends automatically and can put your eye out or worse. 😕

[americanrebel]

This gadget is quite essential for boating, Very useful for hiking as you said, Heck, I would like to have one just to have 1 in my car just in case.

Great video thank you.

[kaydenchan]

Thanks for such amount sailing info. I’m a huge fan of ships.

[claudiodiaz]

You forgot to mention that in addition to the 406Mhz signal sent to COSPAS/SARSAT satellites, a marine EPIRB wil also send a beacon signal in 121.5Mhz, that will be used by SAR aircraft with special equipment to detect it.

[baileywright]

Nice video :D It reminded me of A Storm Too Soon: A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue by Michael J. Tougias. The circumstances surrounding their EPIRB and it's registration are kind of crazy. Fantastic read if you are interested in maritime rescue operations and survival at sea.

[tod]

I didn't know that this channel still existed. One small video bi yearly you get forgotten about.

[WelcomeToJ]

Another fantastic, informative and extremely interesting video, sir :)

[Jeff-vugj]

I've never been on a boat but i always find your videos fascinating, keep up the good work

[MrPeercraft]

Great video as allways. Im studying naval engineering and am really interested in ships in general. Yours is such a underrated channel!

[keybchet]

*Sees ship in Aegean Sea at **3:55*
*Remembers britannic sank on 21. November*

Coincidence?