Canadian diver and buddy rescued near Apo Island, Philippines

[Centrals]

Cool it dude!

You are now putting words in my mouth. Please calmly re-read my post and digest what I actually wrote.

I asked if that was what you meant. All you needed to do was clarify. You did say this, didn’t you?



AND, you said again in the above post that “...if there was a co-ordinated search, the divers would have been rescued long time ago!!”

That seems to suggest to me you don’t think there was a search!

I am pretty sure there was a search but in what way?
At least 3-4hrs of daylight for the search party to look for them!
Who is running the show? "Co-ordination" is the key word.
I won't be at all surprised that only one boat was involved!!!

BTW, Apo Island is tiny and with supposed to be strong current, both divers should be out in blue water in no time at all!!! 45 mins for the divers to pop their heads on the surface!!!!!! Incredible.

I hate to pour cold water on the idea of PLB. The dive operator/resort or the boat might not have the mean to receive your distress signal!

 

[Centrals]

Coast Guard in the Philippines? I would be interested to hear if there is any such.

There is indeed Coast Guard in the country.
The best boat even has chamber on board.

 

[Dan]

Floating for 9 hours doesn’t sound like

I am pretty sure there was a search but in what way?
At least 3-4hrs of daylight for the search party to look for them!
Who is running the show? "Co-ordination" is the key word.
I won't be at all surprised that only one boat was involved!!!

BTW, Apo Island is tiny and with supposed to be strong current, both divers should be out in blue water in no time at all!!! 45 mins for the divers to pop their heads on the surface!!!!!! Incredible.

I hate to pour cold water on the idea of PLB. The dive operator/resort or the boat might not have the mean to receive your distress signal!

Do you know how PLB work?

My PLB1 is registered to NOAA. Once I launch it (i.e., pull out the antenna & press the red button), it will send distress signal to Search And Rescue (SAR) satellites. NOAA will receive the distress signal with GPS location of where I’m, and contact the local SAR authorities (coast guard & US Navy) to search and rescue me based on the GPS information. No need the useless & lost boat operator.

 

[DandyDon]

I hate to pour cold water on the idea of PLB. The dive operator/resort or the boat might not have the mean to receive your distress signal!

Nope, but if I am worried - then they have already failed me and I don't really want them to bottleneck my call for help. I want better help.

My PLB1 is registered to NOAA. Once I launch it (i.e., pull out the antenna & press the red button), it will send distress signal to Search And Rescue (SAR) satellites. NOAA will receive the distress signal with GPS location of where I’m, and contact the local SAR authorities (coast guard & US Navy) to search and rescue me based on the GPS information. No need the useless & lost boat operator.

Yep. We can only hope that local resources are up to the task, something to check on before traveling, but it's going to alert all available official resources. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if a contacted operator would lie if asked about a call.

 

[billt4sf]

Nope, but if I am worried - then they have already failed me and I don't really want them to bottleneck my call for help. I want better help.

Yep. We can only hope that local resources are up to the task, something to check on before traveling, but it's going to alert all available official resources. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if a contacted operator would lie if asked about a call.

OK, so this is my question, as we are diving in Indonesia, usually in remote areas of the country. I'm not at all confident that there is ANYONE besides the local operator in some of these areas (Misool, for example). Maybe there is something approaching an official "coast guard" in Sorong, or in Labuan Bajo. That's not an argument against a PLB, but it is something I would like to know before buying one (and feeling like I can depend on it).

- Bill

 

[Dogbowl]

OK, so this is my question, as we are diving in Indonesia, usually in remote areas of the country. I'm not at all confident that there is ANYONE besides the local operator in some of these areas (Misool, for example). Maybe there is something approaching an official "coast guard" in Sorong, or in Labuan Bajo. That's not an argument against a PLB, but it is something I would like to know before buying one (and feeling like I can depend on it).

- Bill

I think in some areas of the world, a PLB is not very useful because there are simply inadequate local resources to effect a timely rescue.

 

[Kevrumbo]

OK, so this is my question, as we are diving in Indonesia, usually in remote areas of the country. I'm not at all confident that there is ANYONE besides the local operator in some of these areas (Misool, for example). Maybe there is something approaching an official "coast guard" in Sorong, or in Labuan Bajo. That's not an argument against a PLB, but it is something I would like to know before buying one (and feeling like I can depend on it).

- Bill

. . .I hate to pour cold water on the idea of PLB. The dive operator/resort or the boat might not have the mean to receive your distress signal!

I think in some areas of the world, a PLB is not very useful because there are simply inadequate local resources to effect a timely rescue.

For the umpteenth time -This is how you "smartly" utilize a PLB as your last best chance of rescue: You supply all information about your itinerary, your nearest foreign mission Embassy/Consulate (i.g. US if US Citizen; Canada if Canadian etc), and cell phone contact numbers of the Dive Operation or Resort that you're locally diving with, and give this info to your designated Emergency Contact beforehand (a friend or relative who knows you're traveling & diving in some remote area of the world). The Rescue Coordination Center of the particular country that your PLB is registered in will call this Emergency Contact to verify that you are traveling abroad and that you may be potentially lost at sea upon receiving a bonafide emergency beacon activation of the PLB that uniquely identifies YOU.

The national SAR assets of the particular country you are visiting are then notified to go search for you, as well as the local Dive Ops/Resort (because you wisely gave their base cell phone operations call number beforehand to your Emergency Contact), given the GPS signal coordinates determined by the COSPAS/SARSAT System as it fixes on the location of your PLB's activation.

Does this make sense @Dogbowl ? Do you finally get this @billt4sf ? Do you now know & understand @Centrals ?

 

[DandyDon]

OK, so this is my question, as we are diving in Indonesia, usually in remote areas of the country. I'm not at all confident that there is ANYONE besides the local operator in some of these areas (Misool, for example). Maybe there is something approaching an official "coast guard" in Sorong, or in Labuan Bajo. That's not an argument against a PLB, but it is something I would like to know before buying one (and feeling like I can depend on it).

- Bill

Here is information on Search and Rescue there: Pencarian dan penyelamatan - Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

For the umpteenth time

As well as carefully following his suggestions.

 

[Dan]

Here is information on Search and Rescue there: Pencarian dan penyelamatan - Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas


As well as carefully following his suggestions.

The Indonesian SAR agency, BaSARnas, now has a new name BNPP. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has signed the Presidential Regulation No. 83 of 2016 on the National Agency for Search and Relief (BNPP) on September 6, 2016. BNPP is a new name previously the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas).

English version of the BNPP Wikipedia:
National Search and Rescue Agency - Wikipedia

Here are BNPP contact list:

BNPP headquarter

• Address : Jl Angkasa B 15 Kav 2-3, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta
• Telephone: +6221-65867510 / +6221-65867511 / +6221-65701184
• Fax : +6221-65867512 / +6221-65701184

RCC Jakarta

• Address : Bandara Soekarno Hatta, Gedung 628, Tangerang Banten
• Telephone: +6221-5501512
• Fax : +6221-5501512

RCC Banda Aceh

• Address : Jl Sultan Malikul Saleh Lhong Raya, Banda Aceh
• Telephone: +62651-33876 / +62651-7410234 / +62651-21324
• Fax : +62651-21327 / +62651-33876

RCC Medan

• Address : Jl Bunga Sedap Malam No.9
• Telephone: +6261-4553111 / +6261-8225111 / +6261-4569040
• Fax : +6261-8225111

RCC Padang

• Address : Jl By Pass KM 25 Anak Air Batipuh, Padang
• Telephone: +62751-484763 / +62751-484533 / +62751-484767
• Fax : +62751-484534 / +62751-484533 / +62751-484764

RCC Banjarmasin

• Address : Jl A Yani KM 28,5 Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan
• Telephone: +62511-4707856 / +62511-4707911 / +62511-4707881
• Fax : +62511-4707856 / +62511-4707911 / +62511-4707881

RCC Pekanbaru

• Address : Jl Bandara Sultan Syarif Qasim II P.Baru, Riau Islands
• Telephone: +62761-674821 / +62761-676758 / +62761-679991
• Fax : +62761-676758 / +62761-674818 / +62761-679991

RCC Palembang

• Address : Jl Akses Bandara S.Mahmud Badaruddin II Palembang
• Telephone: +62711-355111
• Fax : +62711-418372 / +62711-417602 / +62711-357494

 

[Dan]

OK, so this is my question, as we are diving in Indonesia, usually in remote areas of the country. I'm not at all confident that there is ANYONE besides the local operator in some of these areas (Misool, for example). Maybe there is something approaching an official "coast guard" in Sorong, or in Labuan Bajo. That's not an argument against a PLB, but it is something I would like to know before buying one (and feeling like I can depend on it).

- Bill

Give the BNPP contact list to your emergency contact. So, when MCC (Mission Contact Center), in my case National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) since I registered my PLB1 in USA, call your emergency contact for verification, your emergency contact can also start to call BNPP, in addition to call US embassy (I assume you are still US citizen, living in Bali) independently. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, so-to-speak. I give such list + the LOB / resort phone number to my brother who lives in Texas, whenever I’m on vacation in Indonesia. He is my emergency contact person listed in my registration form that I gave to NOAA.