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VHF Direction Finding: An Effective System for the Location of Ships in Distress

The latest statistics on maritime accident alerts are again demonstrating a high percentage of false alarms from Emergency Position Indicating Beacons (EPIRBS) in Spanish waters. Of a total number of 243 received distress alarms, only three were real and 123 were never identified; a very similar situation exists in the rest of Europe. To address this problem, as well as IMO Resolution A.814(19)/23.11.95, there is a Spanish proposal to install a receiver (121-5/243/406 MHz) on board ships, so that the seafarer can detect accidental activation of an EPIRB. The installation of EPIRBS, which had seemed to be sufficient to solve the problem of locating vessels in distress, apparently needs the help of other tools. One such tool could be the very high frequency radio direction finder (VHF/DF) proposed in this paper. Recent experiments using VHF/DF carried on board the ships Salvamar Tenerife and Punta Salinas, in conjunction with the traffic control tower of the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands), demonstrated a number of advantages which are described in this paper.