Automatic EPIRB activation saves sailors
Kannad Marine has helped save the lives of seven French sailors, who were successfully rescued after their catamaran capsized just off of the west coast of Scotland last month.
The seven sailors were caught off guard in sudden rough weather, causing their catamaran, Pampero, to capsize off the north of Mallaig, two miles from the Glenelg Peninsula. Due to the suddenness of the capsize the sailors were unable to manually activate beacons, send a radio mayday message or release a distress flare but luckily the automatic activation of the onboard Kannad Marine GPS EPIRB on hitting the water, resulted in a quick alert to the coastguard in Stornoway.
After the beacon was activated and the Coastguard received the alert, the Mallaig Lifeboat was able to locate the vessel about half an hour later using the coordinates from the EPIRB. The seven sailors were successfully rescued from the upturned twin-hull of their capsized catamaran, where they had managed to escape after initially being trapped inside the 52’ boat.
