Out of date flares

[ubuysa]

Dunno about the £1000 fine, but I did a search of the MCA site looking for prosecutions for misuse of distress flares and only found this one:

Press Notice No: 169/02

Monday, July 8, 2002
MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY REITERATES WARNING AFTER PROSECUTION FOR MISUSE OF A DISTRESS FLARE

At a hearing yesterday in Medway magistrates' court, Mr Harold W Smith was found guilty of improperly making a distress signal from his vessel `Ocean Monarch’.

The court granted a conditional discharge to Mr Smith, who lives aboard his vessel, following his breach of the Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions regulations. He was also ordered to pay costs of £100.

The court heard how on the 4th of November 2001, Mr Smith had indicated to the Medway Navigation Service his intention to set off an out of date red rocket parachute flare. He was advised it was illegal to set off such a flare unless there is an emergency. However, he went ahead and fired the flare, which had an expiry date of 1998. The court also heard how his action had the potential for disruption of the Search and Rescue services, damage to property and injury or loss of life.

Ian Jackson, District Controller for Thames Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre said:

“ The misuse of distress flares is a very dangerous practice. HM Coastguard will react to all distress signals received and whilst we are dealing with what is effectively a hoax signal, others, who may be in genuine distress could be prevented from receiving the full attention of the rescue services. Out of date flares should never be fired, as they can become unstable and they should always be disposed of safely. Most Coastguard stations can store out date pyrotechnics where necessary."

Posted by: Mark Clark

For further details contact:
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency Duty Press Officer
Office hours: 023 8032 9401

Tony C.



<hr width=100% size=1>There are 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary and those who don't.

 

[whisper]

How easy was it to get the Firearms Certificate for the Very Pistol ?
I'd imagine that if the cartridges have been kept dry then they will still work after many many years - 12 bore cartridges do anyway. It would probably be a good idea to buy a few new ones every 5 years or so though.

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[Cantata]

Again, as an aux coastguard, can I just reinforce this thing about the results of setting off old red flares (and especially rocket flares) by the coast. If they are seen by someone further from the coast, they have no way of knowing that the thing was fired from the beach, and when they call the coastguard (as they will, if they are good citizens), the local CG team and possibly the local lifeboat WILL ALWAYS BE DESPATCHED. So the result is a lot of wasted time, by volunteers, tramping round making sure that someone is not actually in distress. The flare will NOT be ignored, because IT MIGHT BE FOR REAL.
So, please, this thread ought to be coming to the view that old red flares should not be fired off at sea or on the coast AT ALL.

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[Guest]

I would never discard old flares ...

unless they were obviously in a condition that was suspect. The more you have available - the better ..... so maybe 50% of the old may not work - so ? You still have the others in addition to your 'in-date' ones .....

When you need help - do you care if they are in date or not ??


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/

 

[Guest]

When I was on Seismic ships with Flare Guns etc. - the BOX that the flare cartridges were supplied in had date stamp and expiry marked on. I seem to remember also that some boxes - depending on manufacturer also the cartridges were printed on ....


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ... and of course Yahoo groups :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gps-navigator/

 

[Mirelle]

Thank you for that really good idea!

Gardening glove in flares container!

Brilliant!

Cost - a few pence. Stops them rattling about, and since one of the things you really DO NOT want in any sort of circumstances where one is firing flares is a burned hand, it eliminates that risk.

Why did I never think of that?

Thanks.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[qsiv]

Re: Thank you for that really good idea!

I'd not thought of those - I have an asbestos oven glove - the 'spare' one lives in the galley. The logic works well - I'm right handed so use the right hand glove for fot stuff in the galley (no, NOT the nanny), and equally I hold (or did the last time I tried) the flare/ rocket in my left hand whilst firing with my right!

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[whisper]

Re: Thank you for that really good idea!

What exactly is a "Gardening Glove" anyway ? In fact what's a garden ??

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[jimbouy]

It's regarded the same as a hoax 999 call. max penalty of £1000.

RNLI flare demos only use white flares.

I am only quoting what I was told at a demo.

<hr width=100% size=1> "It is a pleasure to give advice, humiliating to need it, normal to ignore it"

 

[alahol2]

It wasn't difficult to get a firearms license for the flaregun. About the same as getting a passport plus a visit from the local firearms officer to view the storage at home (i.e a lockable steel box screwed to the rafters in the loft).
I was lucky to hear of an old chap giving up sailing and wanting to sell the Very pistol. I don't know if they are stilll available or even if I can still get cartridges. I really must try and get some new ones.


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[tome]

Re: Thank you for that really good idea!

Apart from gardening gloves, my other item to stow with flares is an old pair of dark sunglasses. Letting off a flare will illuminate the boat like daylight and totally destroy any night vision for a good 10 mins, even if you're looking away. The sunglasses will provide protection against burning dross being carried into your eyes by the wind. In any decent safety demonstration, they will wear eye protection.

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[BrendanS]

We had an RNLI demo,where we all had the opportunity to let off a huge number of rockets and handhelds, after a very informative talk. Only proviso was that the letting off of the flares could be cancelled, and they obtained final permission from Coastguard about 10 minutes in advance - they check if any incidents ongoing, in which case permission likely to be refused.

We also did an on water night exercise, where two fleets were seperated by several miles, and asked permission to let off rockets and flares from the two fleets, so you could observe what they looked like from a distance. On that occassion, at the time of the exercise, we were only given permission for white flares.

RNLI or other organisations who organise flare training, are definitely not restricted to white flares though.

<hr width=100% size=1>Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabris, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

 

[jimbouy]

I'm only going by what i was told at the equally informative RNLI demo I attended.

The guy was from the east of england and told us they only let off white flares at demo's.

Any way I think the important issue here is that letting off out of date flares in an uncontrolled environment could be dangerous to oneself and may put others at risk if it triggers emergency services in to action.

<hr width=100% size=1> "It is a pleasure to give advice, humiliating to need it, normal to ignore it"

 

[VictorII]

Toys for boys, is what'me thinks..
Seems a bit stupid too, if it's out of date you'd dispose of it safely unless you'd think it still might work and carry it along just in case (along with newer ones, of course). Imagine discovering while your ship is sinking that your toying around has deprived you of the one crucial flare needed for rescue. One might feel a tad silly then, I suppose.
If you want to shoot at the sky, wait until december 31st and use ordinary fireworks. Much prettier too.

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