KVH has launched a 505 Emergency Calling over Inmarsat FleedBroadband, a new safety service for mariners that enables ship personnel to send out an S.O.S. distress signal by dialing ‘505’ on their TracPhone units, KVH announced.
    The 24-hour, free-of-charge service launched Oct. 1. Calls received by the service will be routed directly to U.S. Coast Guard rescue centers worldwide.
    “The new 505 service is a fantastic enhancement for our TracPhone FleetBroadband customers, particularly for smaller vessels that do not carry a GMDSS-compliant system … It’s easy to remember because of its similarity to "SOS," and connects mariners directly to top-notch emergency services wherever they are – even when out of reach of shore-based VHF radio,” said KVH spokesman Jim Dodez, in a statement.