The upgraded version of both products is now on the market and Mullins insists the products are to the same specification as the recently tested preproduction products. "We've fully tested the upgrade standard that is now being put onto the market, " he told BB.

McMurdo has been tracing consumers by a variety of means. Both EPIRBS and PLBs are required to be registered and Mullins said McMurdo had been able to contact the majority of consumers worldwide.

"We've also used our distributors to pass the word down the supply chain to the chandlers, " he said, "and we'll go back to the consumer lists a second and third time to get as many owners as possible."

In the USA, the Equipped to Survive Foundation (ETS) that told the world about the problems experienced with McMurdo's Precision 406 MHz GPS EPIRB and Fastfind Plus 406MHz Personal Location Beacon, has been commended by the National Boating Safety Advisory Council for "their efforts that identified the deficiencies in GPS performance of McMurdo emergency beacons and resulting actions that further protected consumers' interests".

Chairman Doug Ritter says he hopes to perform follow-up testing in January next year, "assuming the beacon manufacturers agree".

Mullins told BB he has already replied formally to Ritter offering McMurdo's upgraded products for testing.