ACR to Debut Pathfinder PRO SART at OTC

An important addition to any commercial vessel’s survival gear kit, the Pathfinder PRO SART is introduced by ACR Electronics, Inc. at this year’s OTC. The new search and rescue transponder expands the broad range of commercial maritime survival products offered by ACR, global leader in safety and survival technology.

The Pathfinder PRO is a fully-approved SART that complies with IMO SOLAS regulations and is suitable for all commercial vessels that are mandated to carry a SART, including vessels that must conform to GMDSS and those carrying more than one life raft.

Greatly enhancing search and rescue efforts, the manually-activated ACR device can be used on ships, lifeboats and life rafts. It transmits a series of pulses which are displayed on a ship’s radar screen as a line of dots, providing a bearing to the survival craft. When powered on, the SART remains in a standby mode until it is automatically activated by an X Band Radar sweep which may come from any vessel in the vicinity.

The user replaceable, superior lithium battery provides over 96 hours of operating life in standby mode and provides 12 hours of active operating life while being interrogated by radar. The batteries have a five-year storage life before any significant reduction in capacity. The Pathfinder PRO SART should not need servicing during its lifetime with the exception of changing the battery before the marked expiry date.

Compact for easy life raft packing, the Pathfinder PRO SART is supplied with a mountable storage bracket and a black telescopic pole, which conveniently connects to the bottom of the SART allowing maximum height and visibility out of a life craft.

The SART is waterproof to a depth of 10 meters and operates between -20°C and +55°C.

Gerry Angeli, President of ACR Electronics, said: “As mandatory equipment for most commercial vessels, a SART is a very important safety device which drastically increases probability of survival in an emergency. We are therefore very pleased to introduce the Pathfinder PRO SART to commercial operators. Featuring all the capabilities of the Pathfinder 3, our PRO SART offers the latest components and has been developed to ensure it is compact, easy to use and maintain, and reasonably priced.”