Incidents · distress

Distress signal received on 121.5 mhz in 47-56S 156-50W

South Pacific Ocean · HYDROPAC 1931/08

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2008-11-15 09:54Z

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) · MNZ 375/08 021732Z OCT 08.. Issued 2008-10-02 18:59Z. 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: South Pacific Ocean. The parsed report position is -47.933, -156.833. 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 South Pacific Ocean →

issued: 2008-10-02 18:59Z
status: Archived notice
authority: MNZ 375/08 021732Z OCT 08.
issued by: MNZ
sea: South Pacific Ocean
position: -47.933, -156.833
source: NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

DISTRESS SIGNAL RECEIVED ON 121.5 MHZ IN 47-56S 156-50W.
VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT,
ASSIST IF POSSIBLE. REPORTS TO MARITIME OPERATIONS NEW ZEALAND,
INMARSAT-C: 451200067, PHONE 644 914 8333,
FAX: 644 914 8334 OR TAUPO MARITIME RADIO.

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.
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)

2 within 180 nm since 2007 · 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.

Distress signal received on 121.5 and 243 mhz in 49-15S 152-52W2007-03-07

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 2026-10-02 06:41Z; 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.