Barbuda Council acquires emergency beacon devices for fishermen at sea
10 September 2025
The Barbuda Council has acquired several emergency equipment aimed at improving safety for local fishermen at sea and enhancing the island’s disaster preparedness capabilities.
Council Chairman John Mussington announced that the authority has received 22 EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) devices and two satellite radios through funding provided as part of post-Hurricane Irma recovery efforts.
The donation of the equipment seeks to address several incidents of fishermen going missing at sea, with search and rescue operations unable to locate them.
In December 2024, Shalico Charles, Vere Isaac and Cleon Joseph went missing onboard their fishing vessel “Give Thanks”. The boat was found four months later in March, approximately four miles west of Cedar Tree Point on Barbuda’s northwest coast, lying beneath the surface, however the trio has not been found.
In February, Matthias Greenaway, Glenmore Matthew, and Clancy Samuel went missing onboard fishing vessel FV Moya with the search having to be called off two weeks later.
“These are personal locator devices, which fishermen and anyone who use the sea … once you walk with one of these, they are automatic,” Mussington explained. “In the event of any disaster — they fall into water and so on — they will start transmitting a locator signal that can be picked up internationally and locally.”
Each EPIRB device is programmed with unique identifiers linked to specific individuals and vessels, enabling search teams to identify precisely who is in distress and their location. The devices activate automatically upon contact with water.
“It’s keyed to a vessel because once these things go off and they automatically start transmitting in the event of certain situations taking place, that is a unique identifier for the person and the vessel,” Mussington said.
The acquisition comes through funding from the Caribbean Development Bank’s Restoration and Recovery Loan program and grants from the Canadian government, both established to support Barbuda’s recovery following Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Plans are being developed to determine whether the equipment will be rented or assigned permanently to individual fishermen.
Meanwhile, the satellite radios will address communication challenges during major disasters, with Mussington pointing to Hurricane Irma which exposed the vulnerability of the island’s telecommunications infrastructure.
The satellite equipment operates on a subscription basis, with the council planning to maintain active service particularly during the hurricane season when communication needs are most critical.
