Boat owners urged to install marine radio on craft

The Armed Forces of Malta have appealed to boat owners to have their craft adequately equipped with communications devices to ensure their safety in case of incidents.

The AFM's search and rescue section said a case in point happened on Saturday when they were searching for a missing dinghy with two persons on board.

The search proved difficult as the dinghy did not have a marine-band VHF radio which would have made locating the craft easier for them.

The AFM's rescue coordination centre said it received information on Saturday at about 3.40 a.m. that the two persons were reported overdue after having gone out in their dinghy the previous afternoon. The report was made by relatives of one of the persons on board the dinghy.

A patrol craft, a SAR launch and an Islander fixed-wing aircraft were immediately deployed to carry out a search.

The craft was spotted by the aircraft at 8 a.m., 14 nautical miles northeast of Malta and the two persons were given assistance.