[Scan-DC] Coast Guard updating search, rescue communications

[Alan Henney]

Coast Guard updating search, rescue communications

By Jim Cresson (Cape Gazette)

The Coast Guard is installing a new national maritime distress and
response system that will better pinpoint the location of mayday
calls.

Currently piloted by Coast Guard Group Eastern Shore, headquartered in
Chincoteague, Va., the system - called Rescue 21 - was developed
through a $611 million contract with General Dynamic Decision Systems.
By 2006, when it is completely installed along all of the Coast Guard'
s 95,000 miles of coastline in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Rescue 21
will replace the 1970-vintage national distress response system and
greatly improve search and rescue response times.


As reported in the Sept. 1 issue of "Navy Times," Lt. Cmdr. Ron
LeBrec, commander of Group Eastern Shore, said the new system will
reduce his unit's search and rescue load by at least 75 percent.


"We can't wait for Rescue 21, especially the capability to get a
position on someone even when the mariner is not able to give us one,"
said LeBrec in the Navy Times story.


Rescue 21 technology will enable the Coast Guard to cover more than 98
percent of U.S. coastal waters with a positioning accuracy of plus or
minus 2 degrees, far superior to the current system.


It will also help prevent searches arising from false mayday
broadcasts, which currently constitute 90 percent of all distress
calls received by Coast Guard personnel.


The rescue system will consists of 300 new 300-foot radio towers,
3,000 portable radios, computer systems at 270 Coast Guard facilities
and equipment on 657 Coast Guard vessels. Boaters will need only the
basic VHF marine radio to communicate with the system.


The current system is unable to accurately pinpoint distress calls,
and Coast Guard personnel responding to such calls must begin their
searches in a grid pattern covering large areas. The new system will
streamline the search and rescue process and ensure better
communications and safer boating.


The Rescue 21 project completely replaces VHF communication equipment
at all Coast Guard stations, groups, district, on cutters and on many
standard boats. Many smaller station boaters as well as Coast Guard
Auxiliary units and vessels will continue to use traditional DSC or
VHF radios.


Rescue 21 is based on the premise that existing VHF radios will remain
the most common distress communications path from recreational
boaters. At the same time, the system adds monitoring for the digital
selective calling (DSC) distress calls provided by newer radios.