PLB Programming

[SeaWarden]

Just for information on here in case anyone has to go through the same monkey-chase, with no information on the internet. I brought my PLB from Canada here, so it had a different serial number. The Singapore authorities (Aviation guys), were very fast in responding to my email (~1hr), but the PLB can only register in Singapore if there is a Singapore serial number. And after registering you also have to register it with the IDA (Infocomm Authority), most likely pay a fee (not confirmed yet).

There are two companies that are very responsive for the respective PLB:

Mcmurdo PLB:
CAN Traders And Services Pte Ltd
No.61, Kaki Bukit Ave 1, #05-04, Shun Li Industrial Park, Singapore 417943
Tel : +65 68418338 Fax: +65 68418878
Website : www.cantrade.com.sg
Price: Unknown

ACR PLB:
Safety Innovators
90 Tuas Ave 11
Singapore 639101
65060111
Website: www.safetyinnovators.com
Price: $85 SGD

 

[seeker242]

I believe we spoke on Ebay! Glad you were able to find someone!

John

 

[SeaWarden]

Oh, yes we did. And on email. Small world.

 

[Pearlman]

So one cannot buy a PLB from the Internet anywhere in the world and go diving to different countries? Because the original serial may belong to another country and you are a travelling Internationally diver? How does this work exactly?

When a beacon is sold to another country, the purchaser is responsible for having the beacon reprogrammed with a new country code and to register it with his/her nation's beacon registry, and the seller is responsible to de-registerthe deprecated beacon ID with his/her national beacon registry.

After the recent incident in Malaysia I am looking at PLBs and confused how this will work when one vacation is in Indo, next in Philippines and then in Malaysia and my home country and so on…

 

[MadUKDiver]

So one cannot buy a PLB from the Internet anywhere in the world and go diving to different countries? Because the original serial may belong to another country and you are a travelling Internationally diver? How does this work exactly?

It works fine, it is truly an international system.

I live in United Kingdom but carry a PLB that is coded for USA. I cannot register it with the UK authorities due to the coding and the manufacturer can't or won't recode it. However, I can register it in USA (NOAA) with my UK contact details. NOAA even send me a nice sticker by international post.

In the event of activation the satellite network routes the distress call to the designated local emergency service based upon geolocation. They can check the registrant details with the 'home' register as required and launch the necessary response.

I dive with my PLB all around the world. But remember in some locations, even with your distress call successfully sent, the local capability to mount a useful response may be limited - so plan accordingly.

 

[Centrals]

So one cannot buy a PLB from the Internet anywhere in the world and go diving to different countries? Because the original serial may belong to another country and you are a travelling Internationally diver? How does this work exactly?

After the recent incident in Malaysia I am looking at PLBs and confused how this will work when one vacation is in Indo, next in Philippines and then in Malaysia and my home country and so on…

#5 has explained very clearly.
You must have the unit registered at the country where you bought it.

A lot of those "lost at sea" incidents could have been avoided if the divers have some basic safety equipment.
Decent sized smb with spool, torch( with long lasting battery power), mirror, whistle(air horn). I have seen couple of times that water and high energy bar were inside a container which was attached to the tank cam band.

 

[sujoe]

Just chiming in to this old thread for Beacon registration in Malaysia.

I recently bought an ACR ResQLink (apart from the Nautilus Lifeline and Garmin Inreach Mini 2) and realized that each beacon is programmed for the country it’s sold in. I got mine from Australia, so apparently it's coded for Australia.

I decided to contact the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in Malaysia directly. Surprisingly, they answered right away and confirmed that I can register my AU-coded PLB in Malaysia without any issues.

You can visit MMEA Beacon Information Management to register the beacon.

Hope this helps anyone facing a similar situation!

 

[Pearlman]

Looks like there is also an international database one can register with INTERNATIONAL 406MHZ BEACON REGISTRATION DATABASE
The importance of registration is mentioned in this decades old brochure that happens to be for my country’s SAR INMCC However it mostly talks about vessel/craft MMSI registration and briefly mentions on page#5 that PLBs should be coded with a serial protocol (whatever that means). The doc does not allow copy pasting so posting relevant screenshots here:

Another issue of concern for divers in the Maldives region is that historically SAR in the region was under INMCC as seen in this pic:

However the current geopolitics of the region required Indian military personnel to be withdrawn from the country who have been running SAR and Air Ambulance services for Maldivian civilians since many years - performing as many as 500 MEDEVACs in 2022 alone or so… Indian Military withdrawn from Maldives

The Indian government had donated a Dronier-228 and two ALH helicopters for SAR missions which the Maldivian forces (if news reports are to be believed) are reportedly not fully trained and licensed to fly. Therefore the existence of a speedy SAR for lost PLB users in this geography is doubtful (to non-existent) since May this year. Possibly only boat/surface based SAR is in operation currently in this geo until replacements are found.

Not sure of the ground realities but possibly Maldivian citizen divers can confirm or deny.