Question 1

Your vessel's EPIRB expiry date printed on the unit has passed. What does this mean in practice?

Accepted Answer

It cannot be relied upon to transmit at all — an expired EPIRB is functionally the same as having none, especially critical on a lone-operated vessel with no one else to raise an alarm In the real incident, Nista's EPIRB was out of date and could not transmit — on a lone-operated vessel with no other crew member to call for help, this was one of three equipment gaps (with no reboarding ladder and a strippable PFD) that each independently removed a chance of survival.

Question 2

You need to send a distress alert because the vessel is taking on water faster than the pumps can cope. Which message format and channel/priority is correct?

Accepted Answer

A "Mayday" distress call on Channel 16 / DSC distress alert, giving position, nature of distress and assistance required Grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance (e.g. uncontrolled flooding) requires a Mayday distress call / DSC distress alert — Pan-Pan is for urgency without immediate danger to life, and Securité is for navigational safety information.

Question 3

True or False: An EPIRB should be registered with the relevant national authority, and the registration details kept up to date so that a false alarm can be quickly resolved or a real activation correctly attributed.

Accepted Answer

True True. EPIRB registration links the unique beacon ID to vessel and contact details, allowing SAR authorities to quickly verify activations (genuine or false) and contact the vessel/owner — unregistered or out-of-date beacons slow down the SAR response and waste resources.