An unregistered Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) broadcasting from inner London sparked three separate searches last summer, according to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA).
One activation was traced to Ealing and two to Paddington. The emergency services were alerted each time – and stood down hours later, once it had been ascertained that no one was in distress.
It was the sort of time-wasting situation that the MCS is seeking to avoid through new measures that come into force from 15 April. Free registration of PLBs is expected to strengthen search and rescue response to incidents involving scuba divers and others in the UK equipped with the devices.
The MCA now requires registration of all current and new PLBs likely to be carried on a UK-flagged powered vessel and, if your PLB is discarded or changes hands, the new details have to be provided. The device can be registered online and there is no cost.
The change is designed to bring PLBs into line with regulations that have applied for 26 years to EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons).
When a registered PLB or EPIRB is activated, the Coastguard can use the details supplied, such as emergency contacts, to gain crucial information to support rescue efforts and send the best resources to help.
Registration also means that false alarms can be traced more efficiently, avoiding unnecessary missions into potentially dangerous situations.
Traced to a skip
Another PLB dumped at an Exeter waste-recycling centre was the source of an alert that caused the Dawlish Coastguard rescue team to scramble in January 2023.
Without an update of the PLB’s disused status, and calls to registered numbers going unanswered, the search continued for about two hours until the device was traced to a skip and destroyed.
The following month, the Coastguard had been able to solve a riddle when a PLB was activated on the Caribbean island of Antigua.
In this case it had been registered and no search was required. It was ascertained by using the contact details that the accidental alert was issuing from a transatlantic rowing-boat that had been packed complete with PLB for its return to the UK!
‘Help us to help you’
Ideally the MCA would like every active locator beacon to be registered on its database, whether used of powered boats or not.
“The benefit of registering your PLB is simple: it gives you – and everyone you’re with – a headstart to being rescued from an emergency,” said UK distress & security beacon registry manager Linda Goulding. “The registration process is free, takes just 15 minutes and could make the difference between life or death.
“HM Coastguard will react to every beacon alert we receive. Registering your PLB helps us quickly work out when it’s a false alarm with no one in danger, or to focus our resources when people are in real distress and need our help. Help us to help you.”
Register your PLB or EPIRB online with the UK Beacon Registry, call +44 (0)20 3817 2006 or email ukbeacons@mcga.gov.uk
Also on Divernet: The Best Personal Locator Beacons for Divers in 2025, Safety First: Why Every Diver Should Carry an EPIRB or Personal Locator Beacon
It’s worth noting that if you have a NAUTILUS LIFELINE MARINE RESCUE GPS that you’d like to register, don’t bother as you can’t register it. ChatGPT confirms; “The Nautilus LifeLine is not a 406 MHz PLB or EPIRB, so it does not use a HEX ID (UIN).
HEX/UIN numbers are used by satellite beacons on the COSPAS-SARSAT system (e.g. ACR, Ocean Signal PLBs).
The Nautilus unit instead uses AIS (Automatic Identification System) and DSC (marine radio) signals locally”.
Register some here – https://www.gov.uk/register-406-beacons