Incidents · distress

Distress signal received on 121.5 mhz in 39-10S 145-03E at 021754Z feb

Bass Strait · HYDROPAC 218/05

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2005-03-23 14:13Z

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) · AUSSAR 897/05 021751Z FEB 05.. Issued 2005-02-02 18:39Z. 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
Bass Strait. The parsed report position is -39.167, 145.050. 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 Bass Strait →

issued
2005-02-02 18:39Z
status
Archived notice
authority
AUSSAR 897/05 021751Z FEB 05.
issued by
AUSSAR
sea
Bass Strait
position
-39.167, 145.050
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
39-10S 145-03E AT 021754Z FEB. VESSELS IN
VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOKOUT,
ASSIST IF POSSIBLE. REPORTS TO RCC AUSTRALIA,
TELEX: 7162025, PHONE: 612 6230 6811,
FAX 612 230 6868.

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.
Date-time group (DTG)
A compact UTC timestamp — day, hour and minute followed by Z — such as 201500Z for the 20th at 15:00 UTC.
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.
RCC / JRCC (Rescue Coordination Centre)
The centre that organises search and rescue in its region; warnings ask ships to send their reports there.

All warning terms →

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

73 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

Worldwide in the collected sources

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

Record snapshot 2026-10-03 16:41Z; 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.