Orolia reports that it has received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) for its McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).
It is reportedly the first EPIRB to have both the international 406 MHz alert frequency and the localized rescue power of the Automatic Identification System (AIS). The McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS is ready to order for across the US and Canada, following the earlier approval of the SmartFind G8 product family portfolio in Europe.
The McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS EPIRB is the first distress beacon to support each of the four frequencies used in the search and rescue process: 406 MHz for global alert transmission, GNSS for location positioning and 121.5 MHz and AIS for localized tracking and recovery.
This multiple-frequency capability ensures a faster, more resilient search and rescue solution thanks to positioning accuracy, greater signal reliability and, the accelerated rescue of people or vessels in distress.
These beacons include a hidden hands-free carry strap, a ten-year battery, multiple GNSS sources, and multiple false activation protection measures. The McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS comes as either a manual or auto variant that deploys automatically on a sinking vessel.
The McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS was shortlisted in the DAME Awards, awarded “Maritime Product of the Year” by the British Marine Electrical and Electronics Association (BMEEA) and won the safety category at the Pitman Innovation Awards, presented by U.S. magazine SAIL.
