FSM Petroleum Corporation has joined forces with the Pohnpei Fishing Club to promote boating safety in the state of Pohnpei. As part of this safety program Mr Mathias Lawrence officially handed over 30 Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBS) to the President of the Pohnpei Fishing Club at a small ceremony on 24th of June.
Improving small vessel safety has become the number one priority of the Fishing Club, with new minimum safety requirements coming into effect for the Annual Tournament.
The benefit of these EPIRBs is that they broad-cast a unique registered distress signal that tells rescuers where you are. With a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS), they fix your position to within 100 meters, and relay your distress call to orbiting satellites. All the EPIRBs are registered with NOAA and the USCG who monitor distress signals for this region.
"A pool of registered EPIRBs will be maintained by the Club and every boat that takes part in our tournaments that doesn't already own one, will be issued one. If any member gets into trouble the club will be quicker to respond to an incident at sea. We will all have better peace of mind and focus on enjoyment." says Andy Musrasrik, the President of the Pohnpei Fishing Club.
An EPIRB can cost over $400, and at this price it is often too costly for the average recreational or small vessel owner. Under this plan, the Pohnpei Fishing Club will make available the EPIRBs to the general public.
The Pohnpei Fishing Club members are very grateful for this gesture from Petrocorp and will be working together to ensure that the boating safety message gets out to the general public.