Following a recent accident at sea in Cebu, a Samsung Galaxy smartphone proved helpful in securing the safety of 20 people.

On July 8, a boat carrying 16 foreign divers and four Filipino nationals on an island hopping excursion capsized in the waters off Bogo City in Cebu province. About 30 minutes after the boat tipped over, the stranded passengers were able to call for help. They were all returned to shore safely.

The passengers were able to call for help relatively promptly after a Samsung Galaxy S8 belonging to Canadian national Jim Emdee was found submerged in water under the boat. Emdee and the other passengers used the phone to call for help, and provided rescuers with their location using the device’s GPS function.

Following his harrowing experience, Emdee reached out to extend his thanks to the Samsung engineering team, saying, “I really hope my thanks can make it to the engineering team as honestly it really saved us all. Only my S8 was able to connect and it worked all the way until we made it to land. It stayed alive for much longer than I thought possible, and it really made the difference.”

James Jung, Head of Samsung Electronics Philippines said, “We are glad to hear that the passengers are all safe, and that a Samsung phone was helpful in the rescue effort. We will continue to work towards producing devices that can come to users’ aid when they find themselves in dire situations.”

Samsung advises users to keep the GPS locator on their Galaxy smartphones turned on while travelling, especially if travelling alone or in remote areas. Galaxy smartphones also allow users to send SOS messages to designated emergency contacts by enabling the ‘Send SOS messages’ feature (Settings → Advanced features → Send SOS message). With this feature turned on, users can tap the power button three times quickly to send out an SOS message to up to four emergency contacts.

* The Galaxy S8 is certified as water resistant in fresh water up to 1.5 meters deep for up to 30 minutes. Neither beach nor pool use is advised. Water and dust damage are not covered by the device’s warranty.