Kannad Safelink EPIRB Recall

[Mistroma]

I thought that it might be worth mentioning this as people living aboard with a nominal UK address might not get notification for a while, if at all.

I had a letter from MCA Beacon Registry stating that my EPIRB was subject to a global recall. It appears that the casing can degrade and it cannot be relied upon in an emergency. I assume the seal might leak but they don’t give details.

Bad news is that since 2012 I have been relying on a device that might have been as much use as a small plastic buoy in an emergency. Good news is that they have offered to replace it with a new model plus 5 year guarantee and 6 year battery life.

I believe that this is a Global recall and they will send a new unit from nearest local dealer.

The recall is only for the Kannad Safelink EPIRB with GPS (Auto and manual versions).
Part nos. K1202311 and K1202367 respectively for all manufacturing dates.

You can register online if you do have this EPIRB (http://www.safelinkepirbsupport.co.uk).
More information at http://kannadmarine.com/en/product-recall.

The company seem to be handling this well considering that most EPIRBs will actually be OK and they might have gotten away with it. I expect the risk of legal action and damage to reputation were too great.

 

[rickp]

Thanks very much! We're affected - hope they can organise replacements in the Windwards...

 

[johnwest]

I have received the letter too and it seems arrangements will be made with a local stockist to replace. Took mine out to examine it and it looks in perfect condition, probably because it is kept in a container in the pilot house. I won't refuse a brand new replacement though.

j

 

[Monique]

Being afloat in Sicily means no letter. So we are beholden for the heads up! New EPIRB coming soon.

Well done!

 

[Mistroma]

I have received the letter too and it seems arrangements will be made with a local stockist to replace. Took mine out to examine it and it looks in perfect condition, probably because it is kept in a container in the pilot house. I won't refuse a brand new replacement though.

j

I was pretty certain that most UK based people would be notified. However, I was worried about people further afield as they could easily miss out on the recall. A bit worrying if you are doing long distance sailing just now with a possibly dodgy ERIRB.

I'm glad it might have been useful to a couple of people. I'm pretty certain Windward islands will be well over 1,000nm from the nearest centre so I hope that rickp manages to sort out a replacement. Theire service centres are pretty thin on the ground outside Europe.

I've already had an email saying that I'll be contacted by a service centre in Cartagena which is approx. 100 nm from my boat. Off to France for a bit and won't be back on the boat for 7-8 weeks so not exactly in a rush to get it sorted.

My EPIRB also looked perfect as it has always been stored away from sun and water, it looked brand new and test said it was fine. The recall mentions "an issue that could result in the beacon not operating in an emergency situation" and also mentions that the "yellow body plastic may prematurely age when subjected to specific environmental conditions". That doesn't guarantee any problem would be easy to spot and could just be a failure around seal that's not visible.

I'd have been more than a bit miffed if it failed when I was deploying it from the lifeboat at some point since 2012. Fortunately, I haven't needed to use it and am therefore pretty pleased to be getting a new model that will be guaranteed until 2021.

 

[johnwest]

Having completed the registration on the link the exit page does say it applies to French registered EPIRBS only. Will wait and see what happens. The address on the last page is in Portsmouth so maybe hope.

j

 

[Mistroma]

Having completed the registration on the link the exit page does say it applies to French registered EPIRBS only. Will wait and see what happens. The address on the last page is in Portsmouth so maybe hope.

j

I didn't spot the bit about "French registered EPIRBs only" and not certain if I can get back to that page to check. The website asks for EPIRB number on first page and will recognise my number as I have already completed the form.

It is described as a "voluntary Global Recall" and I took that to mean worldwide, though they do say "all manufacturing dates" so global could technically mean "all production of these 2 models". Unlikely, so I expect you will be covered.

My notification letter was from MCA in UK and my details were transferred to a service centre in Spain as soon as I registered for the recall. I haven't heard from the Spanish service centre yet but don't think there will be a problem.

 

[johnwest]

Further to the above today I received an e-mail from Orolia Ltd, who are based in Portsmouth, telling me a new EPIRB will be with me in two weeks. I must then remove the battries from my existing one and return it to them. Will probably jump in the car and deliver by hand. Almost cheaper than posting. Seems like good service at the moment.

j

 

[rickp]

I've also been contacted and we're arranging to swap old for new in Martinique...

 

[rickp]

Well, after the initial promising start, its going a bit pete-tong. I'm lacking the original invoice onboard, so there looks like some fun and games ahead to get the replacement through customs (or end up paying 24% duty).

However, the e-mail address that you're supposed to communicate with is now bouncing ("Diagnostic code: smtp;550 5.1.1 <safelinkinspection@kannadmarine.com> Recipient not found. <http://x.co/irbounce>") and the local agent can't speak english and hangs up on my attempts at French.

 

[Mistroma]

Well, after the initial promising start, its going a bit pete-tong. I'm lacking the original invoice onboard, so there looks like some fun and games ahead to get the replacement through customs (or end up paying 24% duty).

However, the e-mail address that you're supposed to communicate with is now bouncing ("Diagnostic code: smtp;550 5.1.1 <safelinkinspection@kannadmarine.com> Recipient not found. <http://x.co/irbounce>") and the local agent can't speak english and hangs up on my attempts at French.

Interesting, I haven't heard anything since my initial email. However, I did say that I wouldn't be returning to Spain until mid.-April and wasn't surprised by the lack of communication.

I have just tried to email them as well and also had it bounce with the same code "Recipient not found". It would be worth trying to email them on sales.kannad-ma@orolia.com (hopefully that won't bounce) in case they are having a problem with their mail server.

I'll probably do the same and we can compare their replies.


UPDATE:
I remembered that I had been emailed a link to monitor "the results of this submission" after I'd submitted the claim form. I have just tried that link and get “You are not authorized to access this page”.

I have emailed them using the address I gave above and had confirmation that the message was delivered, so at least the address exists.

 

[Mistroma]

The sales people forwarded my email and I've had 2 back from them. The first explained that they had changed their domain name and some systems had been down since Monday. I expect that they'll sort it out eventually.

The second email was from someone on the Safelink Support Team to let me know what was happening. I also missed a call from them when I was driving this morning. Routing the query via sales seemed to work and I'm quite happy everything is on track.

 

[johnwest]

Replacement EPIRB arrived early last week, old one returned to McMurdo in Portsmouth. All good and great service.

j

 

[Monique]

I wrote an email a few days ago and no reply... anyone have a email addy which works?

We begin our RTW in late APR.. would be nice to have my new one before then.

 

[Mistroma]

I wrote an email a few days ago and no reply... anyone have a email addy which works?

We begin our RTW in late APR.. would be nice to have my new one before then.

Sorry for the delay, I'm travelling abroad just now. I assume that you emailed safelinkinspection@kannadmarine.com and didn't get a reply. There was a problem and one of my emails bounced but I heard that it had been fixed.

I did get a reply from someone in the company and will dig out the email address. I'll probably pm it to you as it is their direct company address and might cause problems for them if put on a forum. However, I expect that they will respond to safelinkinspection@kannadmarine.com emails fairly quickly. They have been very good apart from the IT glitch they had when changing domain names.

 

[Monique]

Thanks. I'll try that.

 

[Outforaduck]

I've received my nice shiny new one as well, the people we're professional and the unit arrived when promised. However - when checking through the manual and testing I remembered that the reason I was drawn the the original model was that it had a 'user replaceable' battery.

The new one doesn't. Meaning it needs to be returned to a service centre in 5 years or so.

A quick phone call to the people in Portsmouth to express my disappointment resulted in them making an offer that sounded reasonable to me.

If you don't call - you don't get...

 

[rickp]

I managed to get mine exchanged in the end, so after a bit of messing around via email and phone - the swap was straight forward (less so the sail back to Le Marin which was a tad bouncy!). The agent here in Martinique had loads of them, each one individually named and programmed ready for the recipient. Of course, UK ones don't use the MMSI so thats not that relevant to us - but it is for non US and UK boats I guess.

Not that worried about the non-user serviceable battery - I do like the 2-part mounting, so I can have it outside when sailing but put it away inside once we arrive.

So well done McMurdo/Kannad...

 

[Monique]

Follow up... I received my brand new EPIRB yesterday. My main problem??? I had to change email address due to a conflict... they could not contact me to make the arrangements. Well done Kannad!