Best light beacons for maritime vehicles

It’s hard to find anything better than spending a beautiful day on the water in your boat. Unfortunately, though, it’s a fact of life that from time-to-time things can go wrong. When it comes to being safe on the water, there are some things we know are an absolute must, and are mandated by law, and others we don’t know of or don’t think about when buying a boat. We all understand how important lifejackets are and why we should have them onboard. Now, let’s talk about light beacons, why they are so important, and the best ones for maritime vehicles.

Light beacons

There are 3 types of maritime light beacons:

1. EPIRB – the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon uses the 406 MHz distress frequency and has worldwide coverage. It is designed for search and rescue and has a homing beacon for close tracking. Most of them have GPS included and they must be registered to the vessel.
2. PLB – the Personal Locator Beacon is for the use of an individual rather than a vessel. It also has worldwide coverage, GPS installed, close-range homing, and uses the 406 MHz frequency.
3. AIS – the Automatic Identification System beacon was originally designed so ships could pick up the signal from other ships, identifying them and charting them on their AIS interface preventing collisions. They have been adapted into search and rescue as well, but they only have a limited range. You can get lifejackets with built-in AIS beacons that automatically activate when the lifejacket has been inflated. The signal will be picked up by the nearby ships and a rescue mounted immediately.

So, now we know what they are, let’s explore how important light beacons are.

Importance

Recent changes by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority make the use, and registration, of EPIRBs compulsory for more maritime vessels. However, even if your boat doesn’t fall into the compulsory list, a light beacon is a must for maritime safety. They can make the difference between life and death. In most search and rescue efforts, it is the search part that takes the most time, and time is often very vital. The use of a competent light beacon will hasten the search time and make the rescue more likely to be of a good outcome.

Choosing

Now you know what light beacons are and why your maritime vehicle needs one, you must decide which one to purchase. There are several tips for choosing the perfect one, but basically, you want one that has a bright-strong light and good battery life. For more help in deciding, ask the team at RS, they are reputable dealers with expert advice.

For the best light beacon for maritime vehicles, all you have to do is contact the team at RS. Not only will you be confident you have the right light beacon for your needs, but you will know you’ve got quality too. Don’t take your, or your crew’s safety for granted get your light beacons from RS today.