Inmarsat Limited was honoured with a prestigious Safety at Sea prize at this year's Seatrade Awards for its E+ Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB).

Inmarsat E+ is the first radio beacon in the world to provide the mariner in distress with confirmation that his or her distress beacon alert has been received.

Experts agree that, in extreme conditions, the knowledge that the distress call has been received will increase the mariner's will to live, which is vital to his or her survival.

"We are absolutely delighted to win this award," said Samer Halawi, Inmarsat's regional director.

"Delighted for our team and for Inmarsat's EPIRB manufacturers. It underscores our ongoing commitment to fulfil our public services obligations."

Pravin Raghavan, general manager of Tile Marine, explained that the EPIRB was a compulsory unit that all ships around the world should have on board as it automatically broadcast the ship data and position thereby enabling rescue co-ordinating centres to identify and locate the vessel in distress. Most of the ships in the Middle East still use EPIRBs with LEO satellite systems on low frequencies, which cause delays in receiving urgent distress calls, he said, adding that Inmarsat E+ had brought in a new and important dimension to EPIRB transmission.

An E+ alert signal transmitted via Inmarsat satellite is received at the maritime rescue co-ordinating centre (MRCC), typically in less than a minute. The distress alert contains the beacon's position and date/time from its internal GPS, plus a unique system code as its identifier.

Immediately as the signal arrives at the Inmarsat land earth station, it is rebroadcast back to the beacon at high power. A receiver inside the E+ beacon recognises its own unique system code and causes a lamp on the EPIRB to light, confirming to the mariner that the distress call has been received. The rebroadcast is also received at participating MRCCs. These are equipped with highly sensitive satellite receivers and download the Inmarsat E+ rebroadcast, typically within five minutes of transmission. Decoded data includes position information accurate to within 300 metres.

"Inmarsat E+ uses the same proven technology that supports all of Inmarsat's provision of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) services, providing better than 99.9 per cent availability in order to satisfy the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation," the company said.