A low cost COSPAS-SARSAT alternative for EPIRB transponder for local fishing boats in Bangladesh

Every year pirates of Bay of Bengal attack a big number of Bangladeshi fishermen at the sea and coastal areas. Many fishermen already lost their lives and some were able to save lives. With the advancement of technology, nowadays there are various kind of Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, SAR Transponder, Emergency Personnel Locators available in the market. One of the leading and most successful EPIRB is COSPAS-SARSAT, a satellite based SAR Transponder which is available for maritime use. But these devices are expensive and not affordable by the fishermen living their life below poverty line in Bangladesh. This emerges the need of a SAR Transponder, which is relatively low in cost and also open format for platform independent and readable by any radio operator on board of a ship or shore. In this paper, we will discuss and propose of such type of an alternate solution to the COSPAS-SARSAT transponders, which is based on GPS and Radio Beacons, relatively low in cost yet reliable.