Incidents · distress

Distress signal received on 121.5 mhz in 24-43.00N 042-05.60W at 241522Z feb

North Atlantic Ocean · NAVAREA IV 204/23

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2023-03-10 16:09Z

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) · RCC NORFOLK 0/23 241805Z FEB 23.. Issued 2023-02-24 18:32Z. 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
North Atlantic Ocean. The parsed report position is 24.717, -42.093. 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 North Atlantic Ocean →

issued
2023-02-24 18:32Z
status
Archived notice
authority
RCC NORFOLK 0/23 241805Z FEB 23.
NAVAREA
NAVAREA IV
issued by
RCC NORFOLK
sea
North Atlantic Ocean
position
24.717, -42.093
source
NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

NORTH ATLANTIC.
DISTRESS SIGNAL RECEIVED ON 121.5 MHZ
IN 24-43.00N 042-05.60W AT 241522Z FEB.
VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP
LOOKOUT, ASSIST IF POSSIBLE.
REPORTS TO RCC NORFOLK,
PHONE: 757 398 6231, 757 398 6390,
FAX: 757 398 6392,
E-MAIL: RCCNORFOLK@USCG.MIL, D05-SMB-D5CC@USCG.MIL.

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)

19 within 180 nm since 2008 · 0 in the last 12 months · 0 listed in force now

08
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 2026-10-02 02:07Z; 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.