It’s the locator beacon, not VHF radio, that will save your life

I SEE in Wednesday’s newspaper an editorial repeating the myth that you would be safe out at sea with a VHF radio.
This is incorrect and could mean that someone who relies on this could get into serious trouble.
Sure, if another ship is close by it would help, but out at sea or in a remote area the only item that guarantees help is an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon).
To make a network of radio towers would probably cost something similar to what Digicel did, or several hundred million kina, and even then once you are well out to sea or out of line of sight of a tower it would not work.
I think that the coastal radio people are mistaking VHF for HF, which does have unlimited range but is also very expensive. You’ll be looking at more than K20,000 and it needs a 12v battery as there is no integral battery in them.
VHF radios use line of sight, which means that if you cannot see it you will not be able to hear it. They are mostly used in harbours or where you can see the radio tower, which in some areas is on top of a mountain, to give it more range. They are commonly used in harbours to contact harbour authorities or other ships.
They will not be of much use if you are out at sea or anywhere along the coast where there is no radio tower in line of sight, and will not be able to contact the disaster centre, and while they are waterproof they will not transmit under water. Of much more use is a handheld EPIRB which uses satellite technology to contact emergency centres and would be picked up by maritime distress centres, both here and in Australia, within minutes of being activated. It automatically advises your location within 500 metres (usually less than 100m) or if it is a newer one, within 5m, and works automatically for 48 hours on their inbuilt battery.
They cannot be used to talk to harbour people but are excellent if your boat has a problem anywhere in the world, and while being more expensive than a VHF, they are not much more, and are a cheap way of protecting your life.
In fact, just the cost of one large search a couple of years ago would have paid for EPIRBs for every small boat, including banana boats, in the country.
Many countries offer these free of charge for all small boat operators while in others, including Australia, they are a legal requirement if you are in a small boat intending to go more than 1000 metres offshore.
A couple of years ago, following the death of a couple of yacht club members, Lohberger Engineering sold 500 units to members – below our landed cost.
I have worked as a volunteer in search and rescue for over 60 years and am trying to make it safer for all in PNG, not just yacht club members.

Ernest Lohberger
Lohberger Engineering Ltd