National Search And Rescue Committee News

C-PORT, Conference of Professional Operators for Response Towing, the national association for the Marine Assistance Industry, announced the hiring of Tina Cardone as Executive Director. Formerly the Director of Government Affairs at C-PORT, Cardone will consolidate that position into her newly assigned role. “The Association was designed to have one position fulfilling both responsibilities,” commented Terry Hill, C-PORT Chairman. During this transitory time, Cardone is focused on the Annual C-Port Conference to be held January 25-January 27, 2010 in Arlington, Va.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced that the International Cospas-Sarsat Program plans to terminate the 121.5/243 MHz satellite alerting on February 1, 2009. The U.S. National Search and Rescue Committee, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Civil Aviation Organization has requested the termination of this program due to the high number of false alerts and the negative impact on 121.5/243 MHz emergency beacon users and search and rescue responders. The intended effect of this action is to migrate the public from the 121.5/232 MHz emergency beacons to the more reliable and accurate emergency beacons operating at 406 MHz.