When using a radio one should bear the following in mind: Unlike your telephone it is not a private circuit. Anyone who has a radio covering the same frequency can listen in. There may be many users waiting to use the same circuit. Your use of the radio must be…
The use of the safety signal implies that the station making the call has an important navigational or meteorological warning to transmit. All stations hearing the safety signal shall listen to the safety message until they are satisfied that the message is of no concern to them. It should take…
An urgency message indicates that the station making it has a very urgent message to transmit concerning the safety of the mobile unit or person. It is only sent on the authority of the master or person responsible for the ship. The urgency signal will have priority over all other…
A distress call and message is sent when a vessel is in grave and imminent danger. They are only sent on the authority of the master or person responsible for the vessel. A distress call has priority over all other transmissions. All stations receiving a distress call and message must…
Distress frequencies. For the purposes of safety and distress there are certain frequencies that have been specially reserved for their exclusive use internationally. They are the following: Medium frequency (MF) 518 kHz. Used by coast radio stations to transmit meteorological and navigation warnings and urgent information to ships using the…
General. Technology has changed the way we communicate at sea quite considerably. In grade 12 you will be introduced to the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) but during grade 11 we will be discussing distress and safety communications outside of the new automated system. The old system relied…
