Lake Macquarie Marine Rescue says an in-house designed app will save lives on the water.
The Distressed Vessel Locater means that just by responding to a text message, boaters in trouble can provide immediate access to their location to rescuers.
Unit Commander Malcolm Druce says the technology is only being used locally at this point in time but Marine Rescue NSW are looking at its possible expansion across all bases in the state.
“There are other marine rescue units within the Hunter that are trialing the app,” Commander Druce said.
It cuts the the need to identify landmarks or guess at the location of vessels in potentially life threatening situations.
“This little app really saves us an enormous amount of time and in critical situations it allows us to go directly to the vessel,” he said.