Ocean Signal’s rescueME PLB3, distributed throughout New Zealand by Lusty & Blundell, has been awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise 2026 in the Innovation category, one of the highest official business honours available in the UK.
The award was officially recognised at a reception at St James’s Palace on July 8, hosted by King Charles III, who personally congratulated industry leaders and pioneers from across the country. Ocean Signal’s Chief Technical Officer and founding member Simon Nolan represented the Margate-based company at the event, where Princess Anne, President of the Royal Yachting Association, was also in attendance.
Ocean Signal earned the honour for developing the world’s first personal locator beacon to combine 406MHz satellite distress alerting with AIS. The 406MHz signal is transmitted via the Cospas-Sarsat satellite network, the same global system used by EPIRBs, and is what triggers a full search and rescue response. A 121.5MHz homing signal helps rescuers close in once they’re in the vicinity, since a beacon can drift from its original transmitted position by the time help arrives. The AIS function works separately: the moment the beacon is activated, vessels with compatible AIS equipment within VHF range will see the position appear as a target on their own screen, potentially including the vessel the casualty fell from. Return Link Service then sends a confirmation back to the beacon, shown as a flashing blue light, letting the person in the water know their distress signal has actually been received. Holding a compatible smartphone near the beacon also opens a free app, giving access to battery status and self-test history.
Ocean Signal has also built the PLB3 to work with visible and infrared strobes for low-light search work, and to integrate into most inflatable lifejackets, where it activates semi-automatically once correctly fitted and the jacket inflates. Ocean Signal says the beacon has found favour across a wide range of boaties, from offshore and solo sailors to inshore fishers and those on lakes and rivers.
Simon Nolan, described by Ocean Signal as one of the world’s leading experts in radar enhancement technology, said, “Receiving the King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation is a tremendous honour for our team. The rescueME PLB3 reflects years of engineering focus on improving survival outcomes through faster, more reliable distress alerting.”
The PLB3 was also named overall winner of the METSTRADE DAME Design Awards back in 2022.
The rescueME PLB3 Personal Locator Beacon is available now through Lusty and Blundell’s nationwide network of leading marine dealers and at their three showrooms in Albany, Whangarei and Tauranga.
