stranded at sea

[Simon G]

about a month ago kenneth was diving with the dentist on sicca il bajda and wondered off. the dentist paniced as he could not see him or his bouy. He saw another diver with a dinghy and flagged him down. they both started searching for about an hour with no avail. they contacted the afm which sent out a helicopter to search for him within 5 mins the helicopter located kenneth towards comino advised the dinghy of the position and they went to collect him.
so if they think it is not a joke they do go out....... where do you draw a line......... are they trying to save on fuel.......personally i would not joke with a distress call.

[busumark]

no article again today and no one contacted me from AFM. i think that they are letting time pass so that everyone forgets as if like nothing ever happens. welcome to malta. maybe i have to speak with someone else

[skip]

I think you will find busu that the article is/needs to be reviewed by the 'powers that be' to avoid the Army putting themselves in bad light or something similar. As The Gaffer pointed out, you have every right to see the logbook, but I also think that whichever ministry looks after the AFM should launch an official investigation into the matter. If nothing else to use it as a learning experience, rather than only doing such a thing if God forbid someone had lost their life.

[skip]

This is what I posted on the article comment as not sure if it will come up:

Still no report from the AFM / authorities, not even a small press release from their side. I sincerely hope that the AFM use this as a learning experience and review their procedures to prevent this from occuring again in the future.

I do sympathise with the crews who have to operate these boats in arduous conditions, ultimately they follow the orders given to them by their command center and respond accordingly. What occured that morning it terms of their response had all the symptoms of a suspected hoax call checking out the location quickly and moving on.

I'm sure the survivors don't hold the patrol boat crew responsible for leaving the area, but clearly a very bad decision was made either by Valletta Port Control or the AFM command center in determining that this call was not genuine.

What I find the most surprising is how relaxed the authorities have been about it all, with no comment whatsoever! If you get into trouble be prepared to rescue yourself, as our SAR resources are being held up dealing with immigrants.

I feel if 4 boats are available, at least 2 should be 'reserved' for local duties if that doesn't happen already

[skip]

To those following this thread, a positive report in todays's time as the AFM are looking into the matter in more detail and should be discussing it with busumark.

Mark please keep us informed as best you can on the developments with the AFM.

[busumark]

i am waiting for the call from the brigadier. when he calls i will post

[busumark]

the brigadier of afm made contact with my friend the owner of the boat. altought he said that he would have made also contact with me he never phone me. i phoned again the journalist and he is supposed to phone the brigadier and tell him that i have some questions for him. my friend spent about 2 hours speaking with him but nothing came out they told him that they tought that it was a joke. he heard the recording of my distress call and the last part when i told them the name of the boat is not there. but i am sure that i told them the name of the boat on the vhf. if the brigadier makes contact with me i post again

[skip]

Busu thanks for the update. Have to say that with seconds or a couple of minutes in such situation I really think that a DSC VHF programmed with an MMSI number and linked in to a working GPS is a must. Then all you have to do is flip the toggle switch, hold down for a few seconds and it will transmit the distress message for you, with all the vessel details, it's current position etc.

Recordings are never great and it could be that at the end of your transmission someone keyed their mike which cut you out

[blueskip]

I second your opinion skip, a DSC VHF linked to a GPS is a MUST nowadays, the prices of all the marine electronic equipment have dropped so low, that it beggars belief that people go out without them? Combine those, with a good quality lifejacket for each passenger, & you have a very good chance of surviving a catastrophe at sea for under 500 euro! What value do you put on your own, & your mate's lives? 
The other day I had launched & started the engine, & pulled away from the slipway when I noticed that my VHF/GPS were not working, so I dropped anchor inside the moorings where it was flat calm, & checked the wiring, & found that an in-line fuse holder was loose, I fixed it & everything was fine. However if I hadn't found & fixed the problem, I would have recovered onto the trailer, before the tide dropped, & fixed the problem at home, nowadays I wouldn't dream about going out without DSC VHF linked to a GPS! 

[busumark]

you are right skip everyone should have one. and those who have one and is not connected with the authorities should do it immediately. it may save their lives. an epurb(466hz) is the best option but i dont know how much it costs

[bigboy]

It is true that the EPIRB is the best sollution but in the case of the SIMSHAR it did not work :s

[busumark]

i dont know if they had one. it is supposed to work when it touches the water and it continues to send signals even it is underwater till  a certain depht. i dont know how much. what they had for sure was a vms and that douesnt send distress signals. altought they said that it was on the radar and then it disapeared. they should have checked with the vessel if everything was ok when the radar personell didnt see the signal again

[blueskip]

The EPIRB is another great piece of kit to have, & if you are in the water they certainly bring the emergency services right to you, but at the moment they are very expensive, (no doubt they will drop in price like everything else) but at the moment too expensive for my pocket!
What I have got as my alternative, is a clip-on strobe light which is attached to my lifejacket, & a pack of mini-flares attached to the other side. I reckon that after hitting the DSC button giving my exact position, when a boat or helicopter comes looking, they will see either my strobe light (visible for 6 miles), or my flares, until Father Xmas brings me an EPIRB!
Have a look at the strobe lights, they are cheap as chips, & can be seen for miles, day & night
blueskip   

[skip]

Strobes are definately a great option, and wasn't aware of mini flares so they are good as well, thanks for the update.

EPIRBs are out of most people's reach, but PLBs which are now on the same frequency 406MHz can be picked up for ?239 incl VAT. They require manual activiation and that model doesn't have a GPS transmitter but for coastal operations around 60nm should be fine without GPS positioning.

As I mentioned in another post, why the EU doesn't remove VAT on life saving equipment etc I will never understand.

[blueskip]

Well if it was onshore they would remove it, but because we are all "rich enough" to own a boat, we get no concessions
The mini flares are brilliant, they come in a plastic sleeve of about 8, & there is a small metal barrel in the sleeve, you screw a flare into the top of the barrel, pull back the spring loaded trigger, & release it, & up she goes, the whole pack weighs no more than 0.5kg. I suppose you would have to be careful screwing the flare into the barrel, in case you dropped it
I have fitted a lanyard to my firing mechanism so I cant lose it, the mini flares themselves float. They should be available via e-bay or from any chandlers. I got mine from my son, who works in outdoor pursuits, mountain climbing, caving, canoeing etc, so they will be available via those outlets too, try a quick Google.
blueskip