Two fishermen have been rescued by the CareFlight helicopter after their vessel overturned near Wildman River, approximately 150 kilometres east of Darwin, overnight.
Senior Constable Wade Rogers from the Water Police Section said they were alerted to an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) activation from the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) in Canberra at about 4am this morning.
“With assistance from an Aero Rescue Dornier aircraft and the CareFlight helicopter an initial search of the area was conducted with no sighting of any vessel in distress.
“On daybreak a debris field was located and shortly after the CareFlight crew sighted a flashing beacon on the mudflats nearby.
“Two males aged 32 and 34 were winched to safety and transported back to Darwin.”
Senior Constable Rogers said the two men confirmed to Police they were engaged in a commercial fishing operation in the area and that their boat had capsized while they were sleeping.
“The men activated an EPIRB which was unregistered and unfortunately not GPS enabled, this ultimately led to delays in the ability of Search and Rescue agencies to respond to the incident in a timely manner, further delays were encountered due to their lack of familiarity with the device.
“I would encourage everyone who has an EPIRB to familiarise themselves with its use and regularly test the device using the inbuilt test function to ensure that it will work if the need ever arises.
“Satellites took more than 40 minutes to determine a resolved position for the EPRIB and this incident highlights the advantage of having a GPS enabled device which reports your position immediately upon activation.
“This delay was further compounded by the fact that the EPIRB was not registered.
“Had the EPIRB been registered authorities would have sufficient details to initiate a response without having to wait for satellites to determine the location.
“These devices are great in that they tell us that someone is in trouble and where they are but we rely on people to assist us in determining what we are looking for by completing the registration process upon acquiring an EPIRB.
“Fortunately for these men they were able to safely make it to land as the tide receded but their ordeal would have been shorter had they taken the time to familiarise themselves with the device and register details with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. (AMSA)
“The extra time the men spent on a tidal mudflat, in a remote location, surrounded by all manner of dangers may have only been 40 minutes more than it should have but I’m sure it would have felt like a lifetime.”
Senior Constable Rogers said Police strongly urge people to register their EPIRB units with up to date details.
Registration can be done either online at the AMSA website or by contacting the beacon registration hotline direct on 1800 406 406.
Investigations into the incident are continuing.
