Incidents · distress

Distress signal received on 121.5 and 406 mhz in 45-11.00N 002-30.20W

Bay of Biscay · HYDROLANT 2499/23

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2023-11-17 16:55Z

This notice comes from the historical archive. Its archived status does not establish when or how the reported situation ended.

Source and dates
NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · MRCC ETEL 0/23 021130Z NOV 23.. Issued 2023-11-02 11:41Z. First collected 2026-08-17 13:38Z; last seen in collection 2026-08-17 15:46Z. Collection dates record ingestion, not a new incident or a fresh field observation.
Location covered
Bay of Biscay. The parsed report position is 45.183, -2.503. It is a position in the source message, not a live location. Check the original wording for limits and qualifications.

Current notices and reporting history in the Bay of Biscay →

issued
2023-11-02 11:41Z
status
Archived notice
authority
MRCC ETEL 0/23 021130Z NOV 23.
issued by
MRCC ETEL
sea
Bay of Biscay
position
45.183, -2.503
source
NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

BAY OF BISCAY.
FRANCE.
DNC 08.
DISTRESS SIGNAL RECEIVED ON 121.5 AND 406 MHZ
IN 45-11.00N 002-30.20W.
VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP
LOOKOUT, ASSIST IF POSSIBLE.
REPORTS TO MRCC ETEL,
TELEX: 42950519, PHONE: 332 9755 3535,
FAX: 332 9755 4934, E-MAIL: ETEL@MRCCFR.EU.

Reading this warning

DNC (Digital Nautical Chart)
A reference to one of the regions of NGA's Digital Nautical Chart, used to tell the reader which charts a warning affects.
Distress signal received
A rescue centre has received an alert — from a beacon, a radio call or a satellite terminal — and is asking ships to look.
Position (degrees and minutes)
How warnings write positions: degrees, a hyphen, then minutes, with N/S and E/W — 49-40.8N 003-43.8W.
Keep a sharp lookout
A request to every ship in the area to watch for the vessel, people or object described.
Assist if possible
The second half of the standard rescue request: ships able to help are asked to do so.
MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre)
A rescue coordination centre for maritime cases only, such as MRCC Fort-de-France or MRCC Vietnam.

All warning terms →

Collected reports in this area · distress & casualty cases (archived)

123 within 180 nm since 1999 · 0 in the last 12 months · 0 listed in force now

99
00
05
10
15
20
24

Counts include repeat notices about the same situation. NGA archive coverage ends 2024-05; live collection began 2026-08-17. The period between them is incomplete. An empty year is not evidence that no hazards occurred.

Month of issue in the collected archive

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

All available years combined. Uneven collection and repeat bulletins affect these counts; this chart does not measure the seasonality or probability of incidents.

Nearby notices listed in force · within 120 nm

No other collected notice is currently listed in force within this radius. This does not establish safe conditions.

Worldwide in the collected sources

0 distress & casualty cases (archived) listed in force · see all

Record snapshot 2026-09-30 15:35Z; source collection times vary.

Incidents

Search-and-rescue broadcasts, published only once a case has been closed for 30 days: groundings, sinkings, capsizes, fires, man overboard, overdue vessels. Nothing here is live. All current distress & casualty cases (archived) →

Not for navigation. This is a re-rendering of an official navigational warning for awareness; mariners must use official NAVAREA broadcasts and their national MSI service.