Emergency Locator Beacons & Flares Hire

EPIRBs & PLBs

Great Circle hire beacons include an integrated GPS for greater locator accuracy and reduced search times. A GPS equipped beacon’s accuracy is about 120 metres.
Our hire EPIRBs and PLBs are registered with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) under a temporary user category and in the event of a beacon alert the Rescue Coordination Centre will contact us seeking information about the beacon hirer. In addition to the vessel’s details provided on the Rental Agreement , please provide details about the hirer’s nominated land-based contacts. The EPIRB contact details should relate to the vessel’s owner or skipper. PLB’s contacts relate to each crewmember given responsibility for that beacon. In each case, three names and contact details (home, work & mobile no’s.) are requested if possible and at least one listed person should be contactable at all times (24 hours). The nominated people will be contacted by the rescue authorities if the beacon is activated.
Should there be an inadvertent activation, of an EPIRB or PLB, it is the responsibility of the hirer to immediately notify the nearest RCC (Rescue Coordination Centre). In Australia phone: 1800 641 792 or +61 2 6230 6811

AIS LOCATOR BEACONS

AIS Man Overboard beacons are lightweight and compact and designed to be carried by all crew members or fitted to their life jacket. An AIS locator beacon greatly enhances the prospect of MOB retrieval by rapidly alerting nearby vessels of the serious incident in progress and the victim’s precise GPS location. The beacon’s AIS technology provides accurate latitude and longitude position information on the vessel’s AIS enabled chart plotter, radar or computer display. Derived distance and bearing to the man overboard assists in quick recovery by providing a course to steer.
Each unit is encoded with a unique serialized ID to ensure all crew are identified and accounted for.

SART

Another form of position indicator is a Search and Rescue Radar Transponder (SART). It has GMDSS endorsement and plays an important role in its safety procedures by supporting an EPIRB alert by providing final location of survivors in a life raft or life boat. These battery- powered devices are designed to be attached to a life raft or life boat or float free on the sea. Once turned on, it self-activates when it detects radar pulses of a searching (or nearby) ship or plane. A series of 12 dots will show up on the rescuer’s radar screen, extending outwards for approximately five miles on a bearing linking the SART with the searching plane or ship. This highly-visible and unique radar signal either alerts or makes the final location of a boat or raft in distress relatively easy.

Distress flares should only be used to raise an alarm and visually pin-point your position if there are reasonable expectations they will be seen by potential rescuers. Red Hand flares are primarily designed for night use in short range signalling situations. Minimum burn time is 60 secs with visibility up to 10 km at sea level. Orange Smoke flares are for daytime use only and feature a dense cloud of vivid expanding orange smoke for up to 60 secs. Smoke cloud is visible for up to 4km at sea level. Red Parachute Rocket flares are day or night, long range distress signals. A manually activated wire trigger ejects a red flare on a parachute at a height of 300 metres with a burn time of 40 secs. White Collision Warning signals are primarily designed for night use to draw attention to your position to avoid collision with other vessels or for illumination. Minimum burn time is 60 secs with visibility up to 10 km at sea level. All flares are certified AS or SOLAS standard.