Ocean Signal wins King’s Award for innovation 

Ocean Signal has been recognised with a King’s Award for Enterprise for its rescueME PLB3 personal locator beacon.
12 May

Edited May 12, 2026

Powerboat and RIB

Content by Powerboat & RIB

Ocean Signal team outside Margate headquarters after receiving the King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation.

Share this Article

Ocean Signal honoured with King’s Award

Ocean Signal Ltd has been awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, recognising the Margate company’s work in life-saving safety equipment. 

The award acknowledges Ocean Signal’s rescueME PLB3 Personal Locator Beacon, described by the company as the world’s first PLB to combine 406MHz and AIS (Automatic Identification System) capability in a single device. 

Innovation in personal safety

Designed for maritime, outdoor, defence and aviation use, the rescueME PLB3 brings together global satellite alerts, local AIS positioning, Return Link Service confirmation and mobile connectivity. The aim is to improve the speed and accuracy of rescue operations while offering reassurance to survivors in both commercial and leisure sectors. 

The PLB3 was also named overall winner of the METSTRADE DAME Design Awards in 2022. 

Ocean Signal is one of 185 organisations nationally to receive a King’s Award for Enterprise in 2026. 

This award represents a proud milestone for the entire Ocean Signal team. Recognition with the King’s Award for Enterprise is an extraordinary honour, reinforcing our satisfaction in delivering life-saving innovations that support and safeguard the global maritime community. 

Since the company was founded in 2010, our talented team of engineers and specialists has been driven to lead the market in designing advanced, easy-to-use devices which set benchmarks in compact size, multi-technology integration and energy management. 

We set out to develop the world’s first AIS-equipped PLB knowing it presented a unique challenge, with significant barriers to overcome in design, in the utilisation of multiple levels of signal technology and in the establishment of a new regulatory approval pathway. Highly motivated by the opportunity to transform survival outcomes and save more lives, the Ocean Signal team not only developed a pioneering solution, but also opened the door for future innovations. 

We are therefore incredibly grateful to receive the King’s Award recognition for the PLB3 and will use it as powerful inspiration for our continued work in improving safety at sea.

James Hewitt, Managing Director, Ocean Signal

About Ocean Signal

Ocean Signal designs safety products including EPIRBs, PLBs, Man Overboard devices, SARTs, VHF radios and electronic distress flares. 

To find out more about Ocean SIgnal's Personal Locator Beacons, and other products, visit:

Advertisement

South Coast & Green Tech boat show advert showing Book your free tickets

Join 8,000+ boaters who get our weekly Reader’s Bulletin

Get the latest from Powerboat & RIB Digital Boating Platform delivered to your inbox

• Reviews and features
• Breaking marine news
• Latest videos
• Events & show coverage
• Exclusive offers

Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

Powerboat and RIB

Powerboat & RIB

This content was created by the Powerboat & RIB editorial team.

Advertisement

South Coast & Green Tech boat show advert showing Book your free tickets
Advertising banner reads Scandinavian. Precision. Passion. Power - for the Nordkapp Airborne 8 RIB.
Advertisement for Navan boats, saying Engineered to perform

You might also like