Regulations and Traffic Procedures

This article reviews the GMDSS regulations, the most important aspects of maritime radiocommunications, with particular emphasis on the essential elements that ensure safe and efficient operation at sea. We’ll explore the significance of ship’s radio licenses, radio surveys, and radio safety certificates in complying with international regulations and maintaining vessel safety.

Furthermore, we’ll examine the crucial role of operator certificates in ensuring competent handling of shipboard radio equipment. We’ll discuss the importance of observing secrecy in radio communications, prioritizing distress calls and safety messages, and the consequences of unauthorized transmissions.

This article will also guide you through the proper procedures for controlling and adjusting radio transmitters, maintaining accurate service documents and radio logs, and effectively utilizing VHF telephony, MF radio telephony, and HF telephony for various communication needs. We’ll delve into calling procedures, including the international distress, safety, and calling channel, the international distress and calling frequency 2 182 kHz, and general calling procedures. Finally, we’ll explore the concept of traffic lists and their importance in managing maritime communications efficiently.

By understanding these key aspects of marine radio communications, mariners can enhance their operational safety, comply with international regulations, and contribute to a safer and more efficient maritime environment.

Ship’s Radio Licences

All established maritime mobile stations must have a radio licence, normally issued by the national administration or another office/institute on behalf of the national administration. The conditions are laid down in the licence document.

The licence, or a copy of it, must always be found on board the ship so that it can be inspected by any authorities that are entitled to do so.

Radio Surveys and Radio Safety Certificates

The radio equipment must satisfy the provisions stipulated in the Radio Regulations, and be in accordance with the radio licence.

All cargo and passenger ships obliged to be fitted with radio stations in accordance with the SOLAS Convention must have a CARGO SHIP SAFETY RADIO CERTIFICATE. The certificate is normally valid for maximum one year from the date of issue, and must be renewed every year.

Inspectors/surveyors from the appropriate shore-based authorities are entitled to inspect the ship station as often as they find necessary in order to ensure that it is in compliance with licence conditions, and International Labour Organisation Conventions 147 and 152international conventions and agreements.

Operation of the ship station – operator certificates

The master, or person in charge of the ship, has the highest authority with regard to the operation of the Exploring Radio Paths, Spectrum, and Propagation Mechanismsradio station.

On board ships fitted with GMDSS installations and sailing in Sea Area A2, A3, A4, there must be at least one person with a GENERAL OP­ERATOR’S CERTIFICATE (GOC).

Other duty officers must be holders of a Restricted Operator’s Certificate (ROC) in order to be qualified to operate VHF Ship’s Antennas Systems and Radio Wave Propagationradio communication equipment on GMDSS ships.

Radio operators are obliged to follow the recommendations provided by the Radio Regulations Convention and other relevant conventions.

Observance of Secrecy

The holder of the radio licence is required to preserve the secrecy of telecommunications, as laid down in the relevant provisions of the Convention.

Read also: Informed for Safe Navigation at Sea with Critical Maritime Information

The station is not allowed to receive any other correspondence than it is intended to. Without special permission, it is prohibited to publish or take advantage of traffic designated to others.

Priority for distress calls, distress messages and other messages concerning the safety of lives at sea

GMDSS Distress and Safety CommunicationsDistress calls shall have absolute priority over all other transmissions. All stations hearing such calls shall immediately cease any transmission capable of interfering with the distress traffic and shall continue to listen to the frequency used for the emission of the distress call.

This call shall not be addressed to a particular station and acknowledgement of receipt shall not be given before the The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System – Principles & Practicedistress message which follows it has been transmitted.

Unauthorised transmissions

All stations are forbidden to carry out:

a unnecessary transmissions.

b the transmission of superfluous signals and correspondence.

c the transmission of false or misleading signals.

d the transmission of signals without identification.

Make sure not to interfere with transmissions already in progress, and radiate only as much power as is necessary to ensure satisfactory service.

Control and adjustment of radio transmitters

The testing of radio equipment should be kept at an absolute minimum. In order to avoid harmful interference, remember to take all possible precautions, such as:

• choice of frequency (distress frequencies should not be used unless absolutely necessary);
• tests should be carried out using reduced power/artificial antenna;
• duration of test signals should be less than 10 seconds;
• test transmissions should include callsign/other identification of the transmitting station.

Service documents

Ships are required to take care of all service documents that may be subject to submission in accordance with the Radio Regulations The following documents are required:

a The ship’s Radio Licence.

b The radio operator’s certificates.

c The GMDSS Radio Logbook.

d The List of Call Signs and Stations’ Numerical Identities used by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile Service (ITU).

e The List of Coast Stations (ITU).

f The List of Ship Stations (ITU).

g The List of Radiodetermination and Special Service Stations (ITU).

h The manual for Use by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile-Satellite Services (ITU).

In addition intemational/national regulations require that the following documentation/publications be carried on board:

a Radio Safety Certificate.

b Antenna sketch.

c List of spare parts.

Radio log

The radio log, as required by the SOLAS Convention, must be kept together with the radio and must be written in accordance with the details required by the Radio Regulations and guidelines.

All traffic concerning distress, urgency and TELEX (Narrow Band Direct Printing – NBDP) Proceduressafety correspondence is of vital importance.

Radio Telephony Communications – Calling Procedures

VHF telephony

On the VHF-band, emission class F3E and G3E (frequency/phase-modu­lated telephony) must be used. The frequencies on the VHF-band are used for short distance communication, and are less exposed to interference and distortion than the MF-band.

The international frequency list includes both simplex and duplex channels, numbered from 01 to 28, and from 60 to 88 with a channel separation of 25 kHz. The maximum transmitting power on VHF is 25 watts and the minimum is 1 watt. Minimum transmitting power is used when stations are close to each other, and on channel 15 and 17.

The channel plan includes the following communication needs:

• PUBLIC CORRESPONDENCE – execution of radio telephone calls and cables between ships and the public telecommunications network via a coast station.
• HARBOUR AND PILOT SERVICE – radio communications between a ship station and harbour – or pilot stations. The primary calling and working channel for this service is channel 12.
• INTERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS – traffic between ship stations. Assigned channels are 6, 8, 10 and so on.
• SAFETY SERVICE – radio telephone communications concerning distress, urgency or safety traffic.

The international distress, safety and calling channel

Channel 16 (156,8 MHz) is the international distress and calling channel for stations using frequencies on the band between 156 and 174 MHz. This channel is used for all kinds of distress, urgency and safety traffic. Safety messages shall preferably be transmitted on a The Structure, Functions and Details of Professional Marine Radio Communication
working channel, after preliminary announcement on channel 16.

Channel 16 can also be used by:

• coast and ship stations for calling and replying to calls;
• coast stations for announcement of traffic lists and important maritime messages which will be broadcasted on traffic channels;
• coast and ship stations for transmission of selective calling.

As a general rule, ships calling coast stations should make the call on the available working channel whenever possible. Before calling, the ship must listen to the working channel to make sure that there is no traffic taking place. Consult the ITU “List of Coast Stations” for further information.

Example call:

Refer to the “List of Coast Stations”. If the ship’s position is outside Rotterdam (Netherlands) and the ship is within VHF range, the call must take place on VHF channel 83.

The call will consist of:

• The name of the called station (1 to 3 times);
• THIS IS;
• The name of the calling station (1 to 3 times);
• Channel number.

Example:

• SCHEVENINGEN RADIO SCHEVENINGEN RADIO;
• THIS IS;
• PIONEER PIONEER CALLSIGN ELPU9;
• CHANNEL 83;
• TRAFFIC ON HAND;
• OVER.

Coast stations should be called on a WORKING CHANNEL whenever possible. Below is an example of a call to Cape Town Radio on channel 16.

Example:

• CAPE TOWN RADIO CAPE TOWN RADIO;
• THIS IS;
• PIONEER PIONEER CAELSIGN ELPU9;
• CHANNEL 16;
• TELEPHONE CALL;
• OVER.

The reply from Cape Town Radio will be as follows:

• PIONEER;
• THIS IS;
• CAPE TOWN RADIO;
• ROGER;
• CHANGE TO CHANNEL….;
• OVER.

Pioneer will then reply to Cape Town Radio as follows:

• CAPE TOWN RADIO;
• THIS IS;
• PIONEER;
• ROGER GOING UP.

Calls such as those mentioned above, can be transmitted three times, with intervals of two minutes between each call. If the called station does not answer during such a series of calls, the calling must stop, and not be repeated until after an interval of three minutes.

MF radio telephony (coast telephony)

On the medium frequency band between 1 605 kHz and 4 000 kHz, the following emission classes are allowed:

• A3E – Double sideband with full carrier, only for 2 182 kHz.
• H3E – Single sideband with full carrier, only for 2 182 kHz.
• J3E – Single sideband with suppressed carrier, this emission class is used for ordinary traffic handling.

The international distress and calling frequency 2 182 kHz

The 2 182 kHz frequency is the NON-DSC Terrestrial Distress Communicationsinternational distress frequency for radio telephony, and is intended for distress, urgency and safety purposes by ships, aircraft and survivor craft stations.

It will be interesting: Emergency Preparedness: The Role of EPIRBs and SARTs in Maritime Safety

Furthermore, the 2 182 kHz frequency can be used for calling and replying to calls. Coast stations also use 2 182 kHz to announce traffic lists and Empowering Global Communication with INMARSAT Satellites in shippingimportant maritime messages which will be broadcast on traffic frequencies.

General calling procedures

As a general rule ships calling coast stations should, make the call on an available working channel. Before calling, the ship must listen to the working channel to make sure that there is no traffic taking place. Working channels are listed in the ITU publication “List of Coast Stations”.

In Region 1, all ship stations on international voyages may use:

• Ship-to-shore working frequency: 2 045 kHz (class J3E emission).
• Intership working frequency: 2 048 kHz (class J3E emission).

The following ship-to-shore frequencies may be assigned to coast stations as receiving frequencies:

• 2 051 kHz,
• 2 054 kHz,
• 2 057 kHz.

In Regions 2 and 3, all ships on international voyages may use:

• Intership working frequencies: 2635,2638 kHz (class J3E emission).

Example call:

With reference to the ITU “List of Coast Stations”.

The “PIONEER/ELPU9” is within MF range of Port Said Radio, Egypt and wants to order a telephone call.

• PORT SAID RADIO, PORT SAID RADIO, PORT SAID RADIO;
• THIS IS;
• PIONEER PIONEER CALLSIGN ELPU9;
• ON 2 182 KHZ;
• MY WORKING FREQUENCY IS 2 045 KHZ;
• TELEPHONE CALL;
• OVER.

When contact is established, Cape Town Radio will announce its working frequency, and both stations will continue further traffic on the working frequencies.

HF telephony

Only emission class J3E should be used on the short wave bands between 4 000 – 27 000 kHz.

In the chapter on radio wave propagation, we see that the different layers of the ionosphere change during the day and night. With this in mind, and the simple fact that lower frequency bands work better at night time than during the day time, it is possible to choose the correct calling channel.

Ship stations may generally use the following HF frequencies in duplex mode to call coast stations:

Example call:

With reference to the ITU “List of Coast Stations”. The “PIONEER/ELPU9” is south of Cape Town – South Africa and wants to call Scheveningen Radio to order a telephone call to Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Local time on board is noon, and their first choice is the 22 Mhz band. With reference to the List of Coast Stations, Scheveningen Radio maintains listening watch on HF ITU channels 826, 1 213, 1 636 and 2 205.

• SCHEVENINGEN RADIO SCHEVENINGEN RADIO;
• THIS IS;
• PIONEER PIONEER CALLSIGN ELPU9;
• CHANNEL 2205;
• TRAFFIC ON HAND;
• OVER.

• PIONEER PIONEER;
• THIS IS;
• SCHEVENINGEN RADIO;
• ROGER READ YOU FIVE;
• STANDBY YOU ARE TURN NUMBER TWO;
• OVER.

• SCHEVENINGEN RADIO;
• THIS IS;
• PIONEER;
• ROGER;
• STANDING BY.

Several countries have been allotted the same HF frequencies for maritime mobile services. Therefore, the possibility of radio interference from other stations will always be more or less present.

Traffic lists

Normally, the coast stations transmit their calls in the form of traffic lists in alphabetical order, consisting of the names and callsigns of all ship stations they have traffic for.

Read also: Terrestrial Urgency and Safety Communications on the Vessels

The traffic lists are transmitted at fixed times on VHF, MF and HF chan­nels in accordance with information found in the ITU “List of Coast Stations”.

The coast station announces its traffic lists on 2 182 kHz and VHF chan­nel 16, in the following way:

Example:

• ALL SHIPS ALL SHIPS ALL SHIPS;
• THIS IS;
• NORDEICH RADIO NORDEICH RADIO;
• LISTEN FOR MY TRAFFIC LIST ON 2XXX KHZ.

Author

Olga Nesvetailova

Freelancer

Literature

1. Global Maritime Distress and Safety System: IMO 1987.
2. Manual for use by The Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile- Satellite Services: ITU 1992.
3. Radio Regulations 1-2-3: ITU 1990.
4. Manual for Norwegian Mobile Radiotelephone Stations: The Norwegian Telecom 1992.
5. Modem Electronic Communication: Gary M. Miller 1978.
6. Brochures and data sheets from manufacturers of GMDSS Equipment.
7. Inmarsat: Inmarsat-A User’s Manual, Inmarsat-C User’s Manual.
8. Nodposisjonering: Bjomar Augdal, 1992.
9. Skipsantenner: Bjomar Augdal 1991.
10. COSPAS-SARSAT Secretariat: COSPAS-SARSAT System Data Documents.
11. Admiralty List of Radio Signals.