Operational procedures for urgency and safety communications in the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS)

§ 1 1) Urgency and safety communications include: (WRC-07)

a) navigational and meteorological warnings and urgent information;

b) ship-to-ship safety of navigation communications;

c) ship reporting communications;

d) support communications for search and rescue operations;

e) other urgency and safety messages; and

f) communications relating to the navigation, movements and needs of ships and weather observation messages destined for an official meteorological service.

2) Urgency communications shall have priority over all other communications, except distress. (WRC-07)

3) Safety communications shall have priority over all other communications, except distress and urgency. (WRC-07)

§ 1A The following terms apply:

§ 2 1) In a terrestrial system, urgency communications consist of an announcement, transmitted using digital selective calling, followed by the urgency call and message transmitted using radiotelephony or data. The announcement of the urgency message shall be made on one or more of the distress and safety calling frequencies specified in Section I of Article 31 using either digital selective calling and the urgency call format, or if not available, radio telephony procedures and the urgency signal. Announcements using digital selective calling should use the technical structure and content set forth in the most recent version of Recommendations ITU-R M.493 and ITU-R M.541. A separate announcement need not be made if the urgency message is to be transmitted through the maritime mobile-satellite service. (WRC-23)

2) Ship stations not equipped for digital selective calling procedures may announce an urgency call and message by transmitting the urgency signal by radiotelephony on the frequency156.8 MHz (channel 16), while taking into account that other stations outside VHF range may not receive the announcement. (WRC-07)

3) In the maritime mobile service, urgency communications may be addressed either to all stations or to a particular station. When using digital selective calling techniques, the urgency announcement shall indicate which frequency is to be used to send the subsequent message and, in the case of a message to all stations, shall use the “All Ships” format setting. (WRC-07)

4) Urgency announcements from a coast station may also be directed to a group of vessels or to vessels in a defined geographical area. (WRC-07)

§ 3 1) The urgency call and message shall be transmitted on one or more of the distress and safety traffic frequencies specified in Section I of Article 31. (WRC-07)

2) However, in the maritime mobile service, the urgency message shall be transmitted on a working frequency:

3) In the maritime mobile-satellite service, a separate urgency announcement or call does not need to be made before sending the urgency message. However, if available, the appropriate network priority access settings should be used for sending the message. (WRC-07)

§ 4 The urgency signal consists of the words PAN PAN. In radiotelephony each word of the group shall be pronounced as the French word “panne”.

§ 5 1) The urgency call format and the urgency signal indicate that the calling station has a very urgent message to transmit concerning the safety of a mobile unit or a person. (WRC-07)

2) Communications concerning medical advice may be preceded by the urgency signal. Mobile stations requiring medical advice may obtain it through any of the land stations shown in the List of Coast Stations and Special Service Stations. (WRC-07)

3) Urgency communications to support search and rescue operations need not be preceded by the urgency signal. (WRC-07)

§ 6 The urgency call should consist of the following, taking into account Nos. 32.6 and 32.7:

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-23)

§ 7 1) The urgency call format or urgency signal shall be sent only on the authority of the person responsible for the ship, aircraft or other vehicle carrying the mobile station or mobile earth station. (WRC-07)

2) The urgency call format or the urgency signal may be transmitted by a land station or a coast earth station with the approval of the responsible authority.

§ 7A 1) Ship stations in receipt of an urgency announcement or call addressed to all stations shall not acknowledge. (WRC-07)

2) Ship stations in receipt of an urgency announcement or call of an urgency message shall monitor the frequency or channel indicated for the message for at least five minutes. If, at the end of the five-minute monitoring period, no urgency message has been received, a coast station should, if possible, be notified of the missing message. Thereafter, normal working may be resumed. (WRC-07)

3) Coast and ship stations which are in communication on frequencies other than those used for the transmission of the urgency signal or the subsequent message may continue their normal work without interruption, provided that the urgency message is not addressed to them nor broadcast to all stations. (WRC-07)

§ 8 When an urgency announcement or call and message has been transmitted to more than one station and action is no longer required, an urgency cancellation should be sent by the station responsible for its transmission.

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-23)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-23)

§ 10 The term “medical transports”, as defined in the 1949 Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, refers to any means of transportation by land, water or air, whether military or civilian, permanent or temporary, assigned exclusively to medical transportation and under the control of a competent authority of a party to a conflict or of neutral States and of other States not parties to an armed conflict, when these ships, craft and aircraft assist the wounded, the sick and the shipwrecked.

§ 11 1) For the purpose of announcing and identifying medical transports which are protected under the above-mentioned Conventions, the procedure of Section II of this Article is used. The urgency call shall be followed by the addition of the single word MAY-DEE-CAL pronounced as in French “médical”, in radiotelephony. (WRC-23)

2) When using digital selective calling techniques, the urgency announcement on the appropriate Digital Selective Calling distress and safety frequencies shall always be addressed to all stations on VHF and to a specified geographical area on MF and HF and shall indicate “Medical transport” in accordance with the most recent version of Recommendations ITU-R M.493 and ITU-R M.541. (WRC-07)

3) Medical transports may use one or more of the distress and safety traffic frequencies specified in Section I of Article 31 for the purpose of self-identification and to establish communications. As soon as practicable, communications shall be transferred to an appropriate working frequency. (WRC-07)

§ 12 The use of the signals described in Nos. 33.20 and 33.20A indicates that the message which follows concerns a protected medical transport. The message shall convey the following data: (WRC-07)

a) call sign or other recognized means of identification of the medical transport;

b) position of the medical transport;

c) number and type of vehicles in the medical transport;

d) intended route;

e) estimated time en route and of departure and arrival, as appropriate;

f) any other information, such as flight altitude, radio frequencies guarded, languages used and secondary surveillance radar modes and codes.

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)

§ 13 The use of radiocommunications for announcing and identifying medical transports is optional; however, if they are used, the provisions of these Regulations and particularly of this Section and of Articles 30 and 31 shall apply.

§ 14 The following terms apply:

2) However, in order to avoid unnecessary loading of the distress and safety calling frequencies specified for use with digital selective calling techniques:

3) In addition, ship stations not equipped for digital selective calling procedures may announce a safety message by transmitting the safety call by radiotelephony. In such cases the announcement shall be made using the frequency 156.8 MHz (VHF channel 16), while taking into account that other stations outside VHF range may not receive the announcement. (WRC-07)

4) In the maritime mobile service, safety messages shall generally be addressed to all stations. In some cases, however, they may be addressed to a particular station. When using digital selective calling techniques, the safety announcement shall indicate which frequency is to be used to send the subsequent message and, in the case of a message to all stations, shall use the “All Ships” format setting. (WRC-07)

§ 16 1) In the maritime mobile service, the safety message shall, where practicable, be transmitted on a working frequency in the same band(s) as those used for the safety announcement or call. A suitable indication to this effect shall be made at the end of the safety call. In the case that no other option is practicable, the safety message may be sent by radiotelephony on the frequency 156.8 MHz (VHF channel 16). (WRC-07)

2) In the maritime mobile-satellite service, a separate safety announcement or call does not need to be made before sending the safety message. However, if available, the appropriate network priority access settings should be used for sending the message. (WRC-07)

§ 17 The safety signal consists of the word SECURITE. In radiotelephony, it shall be pronounced as in French.

§ 18 1) The safety call format or the safety signal indicates that the calling station has an important navigational or meteorological warning to transmit. (WRC-07)

2) Messages from ship stations containing information concerning the presence of cyclones shall be transmitted, with the least possible delay, to other mobile stations in the vicinity and to the appropriate authorities through a coast station, or through a rescue coordination centre via a coast station or an appropriate coast earth station. These transmissions shall be preceded by the safety announcement or call. (WRC-07)

3) Messages from ship stations, containing information on the presence of dangerous ice, dangerous wrecks, or any other imminent danger to marine navigation, shall be transmitted as soon as possible to other ships in the vicinity, and to the appropriate authorities through a coast station, or through a rescue coordination centre via a coast station or an appropriate coast earth station. These transmissions shall be preceded by the safety announcement or call. (WRC-07)

§ 19 The complete safety call should consist of the following, taking into account Nos. 32.6 and 32.7:

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-23)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-23)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-23)

§ 20A 1) Ship stations in receipt of a safety announcement using digital selective calling techniques and the “All Ships” format setting, or otherwise addressed to all stations, shall not acknowledge. (WRC-07)

2) Ship stations in receipt of a safety announcement or safety call and message shall monitor the frequency or channel indicated for the message and shall listen until they are satisfied that the message is of no concern to them. They shall not make any transmission likely to interfere with the message. (WRC-07)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)

§ 21 The transmission of maritime safety information using the NAVTEX system and/or the NAVDAT system is the responsibility of the administration, which shall inform the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in order to update the IMO Master Plan of shore-based facilities for the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS) (GMDSS Master Plan). (WRC-23)

§ 22 The mode and format of the transmissions mentioned in Nos. 33.43, 33.45, 33.46, 33.46B and 33.48 should be in accordance with the relevant ITU-R Recommendations. (WRC-23)

§ 23 Where maritime safety information is transmitted using the international NAVTEX system, taking into account No. 33.40A, by means of narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy with forward error correction, the frequency 518 kHz shall be used (see Appendix 15). (WRC-23)

§ 24 1) The frequency 490 kHz may be used for the transmission of maritime safety information by means of narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy with forward error correction (see Appendix 15). (WRC-03)

2) The frequency 4 209.5 kHz is used exclusively for NAVTEX-type transmission by means of narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy with forward error correction.

§ 24A Where maritime safety information is transmitted using the international NAVDAT system, taking into account No. 33.40A, the frequency 500 kHz and/or the frequency 4 226 kHz shall be used (see Appendix 15). (WRC-23)

§ 25 The transmission of maritime safety information by means of narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy with forward error correction uses the frequencies 4 210 kHz, 6 314 kHz, 8 416.5 kHz, 12 579 kHz, 16 806.5 kHz, 19 680.5 kHz, 22 376 kHz and 26 100.5 kHz. The transmission of maritime safety information by means of the NAVDAT system uses the frequencies 6 337.5 kHz, 8 443 kHz, 12 663.5 kHz, 16 909.5 kHz and 22 450.5 kHz. (WRC-23)

§ 26 Maritime safety information may be transmitted via satellite in the maritime mobile-satellite service using the frequency bands 1 530-1 545 MHz, 1 621.35-1 626.5 MHz and 2 483.59-2 499.91 MHz (see Appendix 15). For the maritime mobile-satellite service in the frequency band 2 483.59-2 499.91 MHz, Resolution 365 (WRC-23) applies when used for the global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS). (WRC-23)

§ 27 1) Intership navigation safety communications are those VHF radiotelephone communications conducted between ships for the purpose of contributing to the safe movement of ships.

2) The frequency 156.650 MHz is used for intership navigation safety communications (see also Appendix 15 and note k) in Appendix 18).

§ 28 Radiocommunications for safety purposes concerning ship reporting communications, communications relating to the navigation, movements and needs of ships and weather observation messages may be conducted on any appropriate communications frequency, including those used for public correspondence. In terrestrial systems, the frequency bands 415-535 kHz (see Article 52), 1 606.5-4 000 kHz (see Article 52), 4 000-27 500 kHz (see Appendix 17) and 156-174 MHz (see Appendix 18) are used for this function. In the maritime mobile-satellite service, frequencies in the frequency bands 1 530-1 544 MHz, 1 614.4225-1 618.725 MHz or 1 616.3-1 620.38 MHz (Earth-to-space) (see resolves 5 of Resolution 365 (WRC-23)), 1 621.35-1 626.5 MHz, 1 626.5-1 645.5 MHz and 2 483.59-2 499.91 MHz (space-to-Earth) are used for this function as well as for distress alerting purposes (see No. 32.2). For the frequency bands 1 614.4225-1 618.725 MHz or 1 616.3-1 620.38 MHz (Earth-to-space) (see resolves 5 of Resolution 365 (WRC-23)) and 2 483.59-2 499.91 MHz (space-to-Earth) when used for the GMDSS, Resolution 365 (WRC-23) applies. (WRC-23)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)

Suppressed by the conference; the number is retained. (WRC-07)