Exercise 8 - Search and Rescue Transponder (‘SART’)
Student to … ‘You are checking your position to the south of Beaker Head when a mayday call is heard. The casualty vessel is reporting its position as 0.5Nm to the south west of ‘Camel Head’ on Hinder Island. The casualty reports deploying a SART and they are taking to their liferaft. Proceed to their position and offer assistance.’
Has completed the previous exercises.
To give student an appreciation of how a SART will appear on their radar display as they head towards it.
To be able to recognise a SART and head towards its position determining the likely distance from the casualty as the return from the SART changes as the vessel gets closer to the casualty.
As exercise starts student to set-up radar as they have done each exercise. Instructor to ensure student has vector length set to 6 minutes.
Instructor to advise that the approximate heading should be 115 deg to keep ‘NE Groats’ east cardinal to pass down their starboard side.
Suggested speed 25 knots.
As they get nearer casualty they will encounter a fast moving contact coming in from their port side on a collision course.
The SART will become visible and the student can adjust their course accordingly to intercept the casualty.