Incidents · distress

Distress signals received on: a. 243.0 mhz in 45-27.8N 002-53.0W and 45-32.8N 004-14.9W

Bay of Biscay · HYDROLANT 832/04

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2004-05-15 12:10Z

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 AOR-E EGC 110 151025Z MAY 04. Issued 2004-05-15 11:40Z. 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 45.457, -3.402. 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: 2004-05-15 11:40Z
status: Archived notice
authority: MRCC ETEL AOR-E EGC 110 151025Z MAY 04
issued by: MRCC ETEL AOR-E EGC
sea: Bay of Biscay
position: 45.457, -3.402
source: NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

DISTRESS SIGNALS RECEIVED ON:
A. 243.0 MHZ IN 45-27.8N 002-53.0W
   AND 45-32.8N 004-14.9W.
B. 121.5 MHZ IN 45-12.0N 002-19.0W
   AND 45-37.0N 004-09.5W.
VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP
LOOKOUT ASSIST IF POSSIBLE. REPORTS TO
MRCC ETEL, INMARSAT-C: 4227 99025, TELEX: 42950519,
PHONE: 332 9755 3535, FAX: 332 9755 4934.

Reading this warning

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.
Inmarsat-C / SafetyNET: The satellite system that carries NAVAREA warnings to ships at sea, and the terminal number rescue centres give for reports.

All warning terms →

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

162 within 180 nm since 1998 · 0 in the last 12 months · 0 listed in force now

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

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 2026-10-03 05:46Z; 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.