THE DUN LAOGHAIRE Coast Guard was sent on a chase around the area yesterday after a mystery alarm beacon went off.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, Kyron O’Gorman, the officer in charge of Dun Laoghaire, said they were alerted when an EPIRB signal was activated in the area.
O’Gorman said that the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) signal is an emergency radio signal beacon, which can be attached to a boat or to a person. It is usually activated by saltwater or by the person activating it. Some EPIRBs have built-in GPS.
The Coast Guard sent out its rescue 116 helicopter, to search for the signal’s position. It discovered that the signal didn’t come from the sea but from the vicinity of Spencer Villas in Dun Laoaghaire.
As luck would have it, a group of Coast Guard volunteers were in Dun Laoghaire during an operational awareness night. Five volunteers stayed in the station and 15 went to search for the source of the signal.
The team members went to Spencer Villas, Adelaide Road and nearby areas and knocked on doors to see if they could track down the source of the signal, but had no luck. The signal was switched off a short time later.
O’Gorman said that the instrument may have fallen down inside a boat, or was stolen or discarded, or perhaps someone activated one accidentally.
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