India issues notice for registration and de-registration of EPIRBs

The Directorate General of Shipping, India has issued a merchant shipping notice No. 4 of 2023 regarding the registration and de-registration of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs).

The document was published on 15 February 2023.

Every ship needs to be provided with Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and must be type approved by the Administration and conform to appropriate performance standards not inferior to those adopted by the IMO.

Additionally, each Contracting Government needs to ensure that suitable arrangements are made for registering GMDSS identities and making information on these identities available to Rescue Coordination Centers (RCCs) on a 24-hour basis.

Also, each ship's EPIRB requires to be programmed with the ship's Maritime Mobile Service ldentity (MMSI) or Call Sign, and the resultant beacons' unique identification codes need to be registered with the Indian National Mission Contol Center (INMCC), Bangalore.

Recognizing the need for registering or de-registering the EPIRBs, the Directorate General of Shipping urges radio surveyors, classification societies, shipping companies, ship owners, ship operators, shipmasters, and scrapyards to ensure strict compliance with the registration and de-registration process of EPIRBs on board ships.

For more information, please see the document below (available only to subscribers):

RELEVANT DOCUMENTS:

Registration and De-registration of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs)