A SART - Search And Rescue Transponder - is a is a self contained, portable and buoyant radar receiver and transmitter designed to assist in the rescue and recovery of liferafts and survival craft by acting as a locating device. SARTs operate in the 9 GHz marine radar band; and when picked up by a searching ship's radar they respond with a signal which is displayed as a series of dots on the radar screen.
A SART is normally stowed in the liferaft ready for any emergency. Once the unit is switched on it sits in stand-by mode, conserving power until it is automatically activated by the signal sweep of a passing vessel's radar. The radar then instantly displays a straight line of 12 dots on the screen, alerting the ship's crew that there is a survival craft within 100 metres of the last dot and enabling them to home in on the vessel or liferaft.
SARTs are designed to assist air/sea rescue operations in accordance with IMO and GMDSS requirements, and are therefore tested to withstand the toughest of marine conditions. Once activated the transponder can remain in stand-by mode for up to 100 hours, thanks to its powerful integral battery, thus maximising the opportunity for rescue vessels to locate the emergency within the optimum human survival window.
Although SARTs are primarily designed to be used in lifeboats or liferafts, they can be deployed on board a ship, or even in the water. SARTs are normally cylindrical, about the size of a person’s forearm, waterproof, brightly coloured and buoyant.
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