Digital system would make ocean rescues easier, save lives

NEW CASTLE, N.H. – A new Coast Guard digital communications system that’s due to be installed in the Northeast is expected to save lives by pinpointing a boat’s coordinates for rescuers.

Officials say the system should increase a mariner’s chances of survival in the region’s chilly waters by allowing the Coast Guard to quickly zero in on a specific search area.

“It will be leaps and bounds from what we’re seeing now,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Will Lindsay, who works out of the Portsmouth Station.

The system will replace the Coast Guard’s current 30-year-old communications system, and it will improve communication between law enforcement agencies on Homeland Security issues, Lindsay said.

The system is being tested and is due to be installed throughout the country within the next five years.

Coast Guard stations in Portsmouth and Portland, Maine, will have the new system and towers constructed between 2007-10.

Judy Silverstein, a Coast Guard Reservist who serves as the project’s spokeswoman, said the new system already proved its worth off Maryland’s Ocean Inlet in November when three recreational fishermen weren’t able to relay their position before going into the water.

The system quickly identified their location, allowing the crew to be rescued before they suffered from hypothermia, she said.