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A beacon with radiating waves, marking an emergency position-indicating radio beacon.
Also known as: Emergency beacon symbol, Distress beacon sign
An EPIRB symbol marks an emergency position-indicating radio beacon: a device that, once activated, transmits a distress signal and a position through a satellite system to a rescue coordination centre. The sign is drawn as a beacon body with waves radiating from it. The practically important fact is registration — a registered beacon tells the rescue service whose vessel it is and who to call ashore, and an unregistered one starts the same search with none of that.
Marks a beacon that transmits a distress alert and a position through a satellite system once activated, rather than a radio a person speaks into.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
Is only as useful as the beacon's registration. A registered beacon identifies the vessel and gives shore contacts, so a rescue centre can check whether the alert is real before committing resources; an unregistered one produces a position and nothing else.
Contexts: Public information, Navigation
An upright cylindrical body with a rounded top and a short aerial, with two or three curved arcs radiating outward and upward from the tip.
Both are IMO life-saving appliance signs.