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To protect lives at sea, every vessel should be fitted with a radio transceiver. In an emergency, it may be your only contact with the outside world. The type of marine radio best suited to your craft will depend upon the ability of the equipment to provide safety communications from your area of operation.
Please Remember To Log In With Your Local Marine Radio Station (tell them where you will be going, number of people on board, size, type and registration number of the vessel & the expected time of return) & Log Off When You Get Back.
Marine Radio Equipment
There are three types of marine radio equipment available:
1: MF/HF Marine Equipment
This equipment can provide communications over several hundred or even thousands of kilometres - and worldwide, given the correct choice of frequency band.
The distress and safety channels (frequencies in kHz) are 2182, 4215, 6215, 8291, 12290 and 16420. Additional channels are available for routine communications and telephone conversations.
2: VHF Marine Equipment
This equipment can offer an inter-ship range of approximately 20 kms, and between ship and shore of approximately 50 kms, possibly greater.
Channel 16 is the distress and safety channel with Channel 67 as a supplementary safety channel. Other channels are available for routine communications and telephone communications.
3: 27 MHz Marine Equipment
This equipment is suitable for inshore use in the vicinity of limited coastal stations operated by marine rescue and boating organisations. Its reliable range is up to 50 kms.
Channel 88 (27.88 MHz) should be used for distress and calling with Channel 86 (27.86 MHz) as a supplementary. Other channels are available for inter-ship and ship-to-shore routine communications .
Channels with this band are subject to atmospheric and ignition noise interference and, on occasions, from interstate and overseas stations.
Do I need a licence?
Boat owners fitting VHF & HF marine radio transmitting equipment are required to have a station licence.
Applications for licences and all enquiries regarding marine radio equipment should be addressed to the Australian Communications Authority (previously known as Spectrum Management Agency).
Addresses may be found in the Commonwealth Government section of telephone directories.
Failure to licence your radio may result in on-the-spot fines or prosecution and confiscation of equipment.
What qualifications do I need?
In addition to a station licence, if you are operating either MF/HF or VHF marine equipment, you should be in possession of a Restricted Radiotelephone Operators Certificate of Proficiency (RROCP).
From February 1999, the RROCP has been replaced by two new small vessel radio qualifications. The Marine Radio Operators Certificate of Proficiency (MROCP) will be valid for persons operating both MF/HF and VHF marine equipment, while the Marine Radio Operators VHF Certificate of Proficiency (MROCP) will be valid for the operation of VHF marine equipment only. Both of these qualifications will include knowledge of a new marine radio-communications technique known as digital selective calling or DSC. Transceivers incorporating DSC facilities are should become available prior to the end of 1999.
Persons holding RROCP will not need to re-qualify and will be legally considered to hold the equivalent of the MROCP.
All boat owners carrying any type of radio equipment are encouraged to carry a copy of the Marine Radio Operators Handbook (formerly the Handbook for Radiotelephone Ship Station Operators), which is available, for $5.50 inc GST, from any office of the Australian Communications Authority.
More information about operators qualifications may be obtained from the Australian Communications Authority.
VHF Marine Repeaters are a facility which can provide an extended ship-to-ship communications range. Ranges between 80 and 130 kms can be achieved by operating through a VHF repeater.
Vessels operating through repeaters after initial contact should determine whether an alternative direct channel will provide the range, e.g. Channels 72 or 77.
To operate through repeaters, radios must be in the INTERNATIONAL mode. Most 55 Channel transceivers have a US International mode selection.
VHF Marine Repeaters are generally provided as a service to mariners by rescue groups such as Volunteer Marine Rescue Groups or Fishing Industry groups and Government Departments.
VHF Repeaters operate on Channels 80, 81, 82 And 83.
The marine radio is your lifeline to help in an emergency. If you have a radio installed - be familiar with the following distress calls. The spoken word Mayday is a distress call, this call may be used only if your vessel is threatened by grave and imminent danger and you are requesting immediate assistance.
A distress call has absolute priority over all other transmissions and may only be transmitted on the authority of the skipper or the person responsible for the safety of your vessel.
Transmit in the following order on 2182, 4125, 6215.5 KHz or on VHF Ch: 16 or 27.88 Mhz as appropriate.
The distress call is...
- Mayday Mayday Mayday
- This is
- Name and radio callsign of vessel in distress
(spoken 3 times)- Mayday
- Name and callsign of vessel
- Details of vessel's position
- Nature of distress and assistance required
- Other information including number of persons on board
You may repeat the distress call as often as necessary until you receive and answer. If no answer is received on distress frequencies, you may repeat the call on any frequency where you believe you might attract attention.
You should not use the distress call in situations where an individual person on board your vessel in threatened with immediate danger e.g: a medical emergency. You should make an urgency call (Pan Pan) in these cases.
The spoken words Pan Pan are an urgency call, this call should be used when you cannot justify use of a distress call but have a very urgent message to transmit concerning the safety of your vessel or the safety of a person.
Once again, you may only make an urgency call on the authority of the skipper or the person responsible for the safety of your vessel.
The urgency call is...
- Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan
- Hello all stations (spoken 3 times)
- This is
- Name and radio callsign of vessel (spoken 3 times)
- Details of vessel's position
- Details of assistance required and other information
You may make an urgency call on a distress frequency or any other frequency where you believe attention might be attracted.
The safety call should be used if you wish to broadcast an important navigational warning to other stations. e.g: you have sighted a larger floating object that could damage the hull of a vessel. However a safety call is more likely to be made by a coast station or a limited coast station operation by a marine rescue association and may contain important weather warnings such as severe thunderstorm, gale and cyclone warnings.
The safety call call is...
- Say-cure-e-tay Say-cure-e-tay Say-cure-e-tay
- Hello all stations (spoken 3 times)
- This is
- Name and radio callsign of vessel (spoken 3 times)
- Safety message listen on... (working channel)
You may make the initial safety call to all stations on a distress frequency. However, you should change to a working frequency to make the broadcast of the safety message.
How do I cancel a Distress Traffic?
When the distress traffic ceased on a channel the station that has been in control should transmit a message to all stations indicating that normal working may resume.
The cancel call is...
- Mayday (once only)
- Hello all stations (spoken 3 times)
- This is
- Name and Radio Call Sign (spoken 3 times)
- Time that message originated
- Name of vessel that was in distress
- Seelonce Feenee (or "Resume Normal Working)
Call Sign: VMS 285
Frequencies: UHF, VHF Marine, 27Mhz Marine
Postal Address: Urania Community Bag, Via Maitland, S.A. 5573
Phone: 61 8 8834 1231
Call Sign: VMS 285
Frequencies: UHF, VHF Marine, 27Mhz Marine
Postal Address: Port Victoria, S.A. 5573
Phone: 61 8 8834 2274 Or 61 8 8834 1231
Call Sign: VN5CP
Frequencies: UHF, VHF Marine, 27Mhz Marine, HF
Postal Address: 4 Victoria St, Yorketown, S.A. 5576
Phone: 61 8 8852 1331 Or 61 8 8852 1711
Call Sign: VN5CP
Frequencies: UHF, VHF Marine, 27Mhz Marine
Postal Address: 40 Marine Parade, Port Moorowie, S.A. 5576
Phone: 61 8 8852 1129
Call Sign: VN5CP
Frequencies: UHF, VHF Marine, 27Mhz Marine
Postal Address: 4 Victoria St, Yorketown, S.A. 5576
Phone: 61 8 8852 1331
©Copyright Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol 1999 - 2006
Last Revised:
Proud Member Of Volunteer Marine Rescue - South Australia
