Circular Letter
MSC.1/Circ.1210
COSPAS-SARSAT INTERNATIONAL 406 MHZ BEACON REGISTRATION DATABASE
(11 July 2006)
1.
The Maritime Safety Committee, at its eighty-first session (10 to 19 May 2006),
recognizing the importance of 406 MHz EPIRB registration databases to be
available to SAR Authorities at all times, approved the guidance on
COSPAS-SARSAT International 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database (IBRD)
prepared by the Sub-Committee on Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue
(COMSAR), at its tenth session, as set out in the annex.
2.
Member Governments are invited to bring the annexed guidance to the attention
of all parties concerned.
Annex.
GUIDANCE ON THE COSPAS-SARSAT INTERNATIONAL 406 MHz BEACON REGISTRATION
DATABASE
Need for EPIRB
registration and associated databases
1.
Emergency position-indicating radio beacons (EPIRBs) perform distress alerting
and other functions to support search and rescue (SAR) services covered by the
1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, as amended, for
any person in distress at sea, and the 1974 International Convention on Safety
of Life at Sea (SOLAS), as amended, requires EPIRB carriage (Chapter IV,
regulation 7.6) and registration.
2.
The provisions relevant to EPIRB registration in Chapter IV, regulation 5-1
apply to all ships on all voyages, and are as follows:
"Each
Contracting Government undertakes to ensure that suitable arrangements are made
for registering global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS) identities
and for making information on these identities available to rescue
co-ordination centres on a 24-hour basis. Where appropriate, international
organizations maintaining a registry of these identities shall be notified by
the Contracting Government of these assignments."
3.
It is crucial that 406 MHz EPIRBs be registered, and that the registration data
be available to SAR authorities at all times. Experience has shown that EPIRB
registration data is either critically important or somewhat helpful in the
majority of SAR cases involving an EPIRB alert.
4.
406 MHz EPIRBs should be registered regardless of whether they are carried
aboard ships or other marine craft, and registrations should be reinforced by
national requirements.
5.
It is essential that IMO Member States arrange for registration of EPIRBs to
enable EPIRB owners to fulfil their obligation to register the beacons, and to
provide access to this data by SAR authorities. Such arrangements can be made
nationally, in co-operation with other Administrations or by other suitable
means.
International Beacon
Registration Database
6.
COSPAS-SARSAT, the international programme that processes 406 MHz EPIRB alerts
and routes them to the identified SAR authorities, has developed an
International 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database (IBRD) that became
operational on 16 January 2006.
7.
The IBRD is hosted on the Internet at https://www.406registration.com with
online help capabilities.
8.
COSPAS-SARSAT provides the IBRD solely for the purpose of assisting SAR
Services in SAR operations. The IBRD is available free of charge to users with
no access to national registration facilities.
9.
Administrations that already have national registers should consider using the
IBRD to make their national beacon registration data more readily available to
SAR personnel on a 24-hour basis.
10.
The IBRD can be used not only for registering 406 MHz EPIRBs, but also 406 MHz
emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) carried on board aircraft, and personal
locator beacons (PLBs) designed for personal use.
11.
The COSPAS-SARSAT 406 MHz system provides distress alerts that include the
unique 15-character hexadecimal identification of the transmitting beacon. This
beacon identification can be decoded to obtain information including:
.1 the type of
beacon, i.e. ELT, EPIRB or PLB;
.2 the country
code and identification data which form the unique beacon identification; and
.3 the type of
auxiliary radio locating (homing) device.
12.
If a beacon is properly registered, the 15-character hexadecimal identification
of the beacon can be used to access additional information. Beacon registration
databases can provide information of great use to SAR personnel, including:
.1 specific
identification information;
.2 the
make/model of aircraft or vessel in distress;
.3
communications equipment available;
.4 the total
number of persons onboard; and
.5 emergency
contact information.
13.
Such information can be made available to support SAR services only if the
required information is provided to the registration authority.
14.
Registration of 406 MHz beacons is required in accordance with international
regulations on SAR established by the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) and by the SOLAS Convention. In addition, some countries have made 406
MHz beacon registration mandatory and maintain national 406 MHz beacon
registration databases.
15.
The IBRD is designed to support:
.1 beacon owners
who wish to register their beacons;
.2
Administrations to make registration data available for SAR; and
.3 SAR
authorities that need to efficiently access beacon registration data to assist
persons in distress.
16.
COSPAS-SARSAT has configured the IBRD to accept by default beacon registrations
from beacon owners, unless the Administration associated with the beacon’s
country code(s) has advised COSPAS-SARSAT that it:
.1 operates a
national database with a 24-hour point of contact and does not want EPIRBs with
its country code(s) included in the IBRD; or
.2 wishes to control
the inclusion of beacons with its country code(s) in the IBRD.
Establishing an IBRD
Point of Contact
17.
Each Administration should provide COSPAS-SARSAT with a National IBRD Point of
Contact for co-ordinating use of the IBRD. This Contact will help to resolve
problems arising with registration of beacons with the Administration’s country
code(s).
18.
The National IBRD Point of Contact should be officially identified to the
COSPAS-SARSAT Secretariat using a letter similar to that annexed to this circular.
This letter must be signed by the Administration’s IMO representative, or by
its representative to COSPAS-SARSAT or to the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), and sent to the COSPAS-SARSAT Secretariat. Based on the
letter, the Database Administrator (i.e., the COSPAS-SARSAT Secretariat) will
allocate the requested user identifications and passwords to the
Administration’s National IBRD Point of Contact.
19.
The request should specify whether user identification and passwords are required
for:
.1 National Data
Providers for registration of beacons with their country code(s);
.2 SAR Services
for IBRD queries; and/or
.3 authorized
shore-based service facilities and inspectors.
20.
Passwords and user identifications will be sent via regular post to the
National IBRD Point of Contact, who must then forward the user identification
and password to national SAR Services, Data Providers and authorized
maintenance facilities and inspectors to enable their use of the IBRD.
21.
It is critical that, at a minimum, passwords be requested for SAR Services to
access beacon registration information held in the IBRD.
Providing Details of
Your National Beacon Registry
22.
If an Administration maintains its own national beacon registry and decides not
to allow beacons with its country code(s) to be registered in the IBRD, the
Administration should review the information relating to national beacon
registries in documents C/S A.001 and C/S S.007 (available from
www.cospas-sarsat.org) and provide the COSPAS-SARSAT Secretariat with any
updates as appropriate. It is critically important that accurate information is
provided to the Secretariat in order to keep these documents up to date.
23.
Beacon owners who attempt to register beacons with an Administration’s country
code(s) will be advised through a "pop up" window of contact
information regarding the applicable national beacon registry based on
information provided to COSPAS-SARSAT by the Administration.
24.
If no information is available regarding the details of a national beacon
registry for an Administration, COSPAS-SARSAT will assume that no such registry
exists and will allow the direct registration of beacons with the
Administration’s country code(s) in the IBRD.
Controlling Beacon
Registration at a National Level
25.
If an Administration has elected to use the IBRD but wishes to control inputs
to the IBRD at a national level, the national IBRD Point of Contact should so
notify the COSPAS-SARSAT IBRD Database Administrator, and provide a description
of the details of the national authority responsible for EPIRB registration.
26.
The Administration will be able to upload in bulk its beacon registration data
and, if desired, keep sole control of inputs or updates. In that case, beacon
owners who attempt to register beacons with the Administration’s country
code(s) will be advised through a "pop up" window of national contact
information for beacon registration.
27.
The IBRD Database Administrator will provide national user identification and a
password that will allow only the National Data Provider to register and modify
existing registrations of beacons with the Administration’s country code(s).