Vol. 536 No. 2
155 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources the position on a trial that was to be taken in relation to a safety device (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13617/01]
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to a previous Parliamentary Question on 6 February 2001 in which I explained that there is no mechanism by which my Department can test the submerged vessel locator buoy designed by Mr. Kelly.
However, as I indicated in my reply, I was anxious that its potential usefulness as a safety device should receive the fullest consideration. To this end, I directed that the submerged vessel locator buoy be brought to the attention of the Fishing Vessel Safety Implementation Group to advise me on whether the carriage of such a locator buoy would merit consideration as a statutory requirement. The implementation group comprises representatives of the relevant divisions within the Department, including the Coast Guard and Marine Survey Office, BIM and the Health and Safety Authority.
Since 1 January 1999, all fishing vessels are required to carry two distress emitting systems, an emergency position indicating radio beacon – EPIRB – and a global maritime distress and safety system – GMDSS – which are both capable of providing accurate vessel position information when activated. An EPIRB signal is usually picked up within an hour. It will give an initial location of the vessel, and even if the EPIRB drifts away from the sunken vessel, its location will already have been transmitted to the search and rescue authorities. The submerged vessel locator buoy would require a separate EPIRB to be attached to it to enable it to be an effective means of locating a sunken vessel. However, this EPIRB could not be used as the primary EPIRB as it is possible that it could fail to break free for mechanical or other reasons and the alarm would not be raised.
