Pre-departure EPIRB and SART findings at Mumbai: what stops the ship and what does not
MV Kalinga Express, 9,800 GT, is loading at Mumbai for a ten-day run to Mombasa across the Arabian Sea, a sea area A3 voyage. During the pre-departure GMDSS check the second officer reports: the float-free 406 MHz EPIRB passes its self-test, but the battery is stamped to expire at the end of next month and the hydrostatic release unit is dated twenty-six months ago; the beacon registration printout still shows the previous owner, 'Sea Victor Shipping', and a call sign the vessel no longer uses; the 9 GHz SART passes its self-test and, when the second officer switches it on near the bridge wing, the radar shows twelve blips on the 12-mile scale, so he concludes the SART is fine; the second SART shows an amber battery indicator. There is no AIS-SART on board. Departure is in six hours and the port state control officer is due at 1400.
1. Give a go/no-go decision for each finding with the reasoning behind it.
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Item by item
- EPIRB battery expiring next month - no-go. The beacon must be able to transmit for 48 hours at minus 20 °C on the battery as installed. The expiry date is the manufacturer's limit, not a target. A beacon that dies after six hours because the battery is tired is worse than no beacon, because the crew is relying on it.
- HRU dated twenty-six months ago - no-go. Hydrostatic release units are replaced on the manufacturer's cycle, commonly two years, and the date is marked on the unit. An expired HRU may not release at the designed depth, or may release falsely. Float-free operation is then not assured.
- Registration in the previous owner's name - no-go, and the most dangerous finding on the list. A 406 MHz alert from a Cospas-Sarsat beacon goes to the INMCC and from there to a rescue coordination centre. If the record shows 'Sea Victor Shipping' with an old call sign, the RCC spends its first minutes telephoning the wrong people while the crew is in the water.
- SART amber battery indicator - verify against the battery expiry, and replace if due. A SART is specified for roughly 96 hours in standby and 8 hours transmitting. An amber indicator on a battery at end of life is not worth arguing about on an A3 passage. Two SARTs is the correct carriage for this size of ship; an AIS-SART is not required in addition.
Recommendation to the master: items 1 to 3 are curable within six hours if spares are held or a service agent is available in Mumbai. The ship should not present for the inspection, and should not sail, until they are done. Item 4 is resolved by fitting a replacement battery or a serviceable unit.
2. State the correct test method for the EPIRB and the SART, and explain precisely what was wrong with the bridge-wing SART test.
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EPIRB
- Use only the built-in self-test - typically a short press showing battery condition, strobe operation and 406/121.5 status. Never 'test' by lifting the switch or dropping the beacon in water.
- If the test radiates, carry it out in the first five minutes of a UTC hour and for the shortest time possible, so a passing aircraft or satellite does not treat it as a live alert.
- Also check the mounting, the HRU date, the lanyard, the sea contacts, the strobe and the free-floating path (nothing lashed over the enclosure, no paint over the release).
SART
- Use the self-test function, which most sets provide without radiating.
- If a radiated check is unavoidable, do it in a screened container or below decks, on the shortest burst, at low radar range.
Why the bridge-wing test was wrong: the twelve blips were a genuine radar response, seen on the 12-mile scale, from a SART at bridge height rather than at survival-craft height. In a port full of radars - other ships, tugs, the port radar, the Coast Guard - the response appears as a chain of twelve dots on a bearing, which is the internationally recognised sign of a distress locating beacon. Any of those bridges may have reported it, and somebody may have started a search. The test proved the SART works, but it also created a false distress indication in the busiest water in the area, which is a reportable event and must be written up, not laughed off.
3. What must be done about the registration and the hardware, and why does stale beacon data matter so much to the SAR chain?
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Actions
- Registration: complete a beacon registration with the correct vessel name, call sign, MMSI, owner or operator, and 24-hour contact numbers, submitted through the route used for Indian beacon registration (WPC to the INMCC). Keep a copy on board and check it whenever the ship changes name, flag or owner. The registration is free and is the single most useful thing a beacon carries.
- HRU and battery: fit approved replacement units, record the new expiry dates in the radio log and mark them on the HRU and battery pack, and keep the maintenance records for the surveyor. Do not fit a non-approved battery pack; charge characteristics and sealing are part of the beacon's approval.
- AIS-SART: not required in addition. AIS-SARTs are an accepted alternative to radar SARTs, displayed on AIS rather than on radar. There is no deficiency in having none fitted.
Why stale data matters: when the beacon transmits, the satellite system computes a position and the INMCC pairs it with the registration record. The record is what tells the RCC who is in the water, how many people, what the vessel looks like and whom to telephone. Wrong owner and wrong call sign means phone calls to strangers, no mobile number for the master, and a search datum that has to be confirmed before assets launch. Every one of those minutes is measured against survival time in the sea. That is why an inspector treats a mis-registered beacon as a serious finding and not as paperwork.