3.2 Distress Communications & Alerting

3.2 Distress, Urgency & Safety Communications

Quick Answer: Priority is always Distress → Urgency → Safety → Routine. Speak MAYDAY for grave and imminent danger needing immediate help, PAN PAN for urgency short of distress, and SECURITE for important navigational or meteorological warnings. Use Channel 16 (VHF) and 2182 kHz (MF) for radiotelephony distress/calling; cancel any false distress alert immediately with a proper “all stations” cancellation. Never invent a MAYDAY, and never leave a false DSC alert uncancelled.

Element 1 Subelement B expects operators to choose the correct priority, build a legal distress message, and behave correctly when someone else is in distress. These rules save lives only when every station on the frequency follows them.

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Priority Order (Memorize Exactly)

All stations in the maritime mobile service must respect four priority levels:

Pool language: the order of priority of radiotelephone communications is distress calls and signals, followed by communications preceded by Urgency and Safety signals, then all other communications. Another phrasing: highest priority communications from ships at sea are distress, then communications preceded by urgency, then safety.

Urgency has lower priority than distress—never the reverse. Routine ship-to-ship chatter does not outrank SECURITE.

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Distress (MAYDAY)

Definition

A distress communication is an internationally recognized communication indicating that the sender is threatened by grave and imminent danger and requests immediate assistance.

Distress traffic includes all messages about the immediate assistance required by a ship, aircraft, or other vehicle so threatened—including life safety of persons on board and situations such as man overboard when they meet the distress standard.

What a distress message must include

Exam items expect all of the following content themes:

1. Identity — name of vessel; call sign / registration; phonetic identification as required
2. Position — latitude/longitude or bearing/distance from a known point; other position data that aids rescue
3. Nature of distress and kind of assistance required
4. Additional rescue particulars — vessel length, color, type; number of persons on board; other helpful details

The radiotelephone distress call and message structure is tested as all of the above: MAYDAY spoken three times, vessel name/call sign identification, position and particulars, nature of distress, and assistance required.

Voice procedure skeleton (Channel 16 or 2182 kHz)

1. Select Channel 16 (VHF) or 2182 kHz (MF radiotelephony distress/calling), high power as needed for distress
2. MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY
3. THIS IS [vessel name ×3], call sign / MMSI as appropriate
4. Repeat MAYDAY and vessel name
5. Position, nature of distress, assistance required, other useful information
6. Listen for acknowledgment; control or follow control of distress traffic

If equipped with DSC, a distress alert can be sent with a dedicated distress function (MMSI and position when GPS is interfaced). Voice follow-up on the associated distress frequency remains essential so nearby vessels and RCC coordinators hear the situation.

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Urgency (PAN PAN)

Definition and signal

The internationally recognized urgency signal in radiotelephony is “PAN PAN” spoken three times before the urgency call (pronounced like the French panne).

A typical urgency transmission is a request for medical assistance that does not rise to the level of distress, or another very urgent message concerning the safety of a ship, aircraft, vehicle, or person—without the “grave and imminent danger / immediate assistance” threshold of MAYDAY.

Authority

The urgency signal concerning safety of a ship, aircraft, or person shall be sent only on the authority of the master of the ship or the person responsible for the mobile station (either).

Do not use PAN PAN for routine inconvenience. Do not use MAYDAY when PAN PAN fits—false inflation of priority blocks real distress.

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Safety (SECURITE)

A safety transmission indicates that a station is preparing to transmit an important navigation or weather warning.

• Radiotelephony safety signal: SECURITE (French pronunciation) spoken three times before the call
• Radiotelegraphy safety group: TTT (know it exists; Element 1 emphasizes voice SECURITE)
• Safety signal and call are normally sent on an international distress frequency (2182 kHz or 156.8 MHz / Channel 16), then the detailed warning may continue on a working channel (for example, U.S. Coast Guard often announces on 16, then broadcasts details on Channel 22A)

Exam wording: the safety signal call word spoken three times to announce a storm warning, danger to navigation, or special aid to navigation is SECURITE—not “SAFETY,” not PAN PAN, not MAYDAY.

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Control of Distress Traffic & Resume Normal Working

When distress is in progress:

1. Cease transmissions that could interfere with distress traffic
2. Listen—do not break in unless you can render assistance or relay
3. Acknowledge if you are in a position to help or if you are the appropriate coast/RCC station
4. Relay (MAYDAY RELAY) when the vessel in distress cannot be heard by shore stations but you can
5. Follow the station controlling distress traffic (often a Coast Guard unit or RCC)
6. When distress ends, stations resume normal working only after the distress is cancelled or the controlling station releases the frequency—do not casually reopen Channel 16 for routine chatter while SAR is still using it

Operator responsibilities when hearing distress

• Keep continuous watch on the distress frequency
• Log distress traffic as required (distress-related logs have longer retention—three years in the logkeeping topics)
• Render communications assistance consistent with GMDSS/Part 80 responsibilities: every ship must be able to perform communications functions essential for the safety of the ship itself and of other ships
• Do not transmit “curiosity” questions that clog the channel

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False Distress Alerts — Prohibited & Must Be Cancelled

Knowingly transmitting a false distress signal is illegal and can divert search-and-rescue resources. Accidental DSC or voice alerts also happen—silence is not a cure. Cancel immediately.

VHF DSC false alert (concept)

1. Stop/reset the equipment as appropriate
2. Set radio to Channel 16
3. Broadcast to “All stations” with ship name, call sign, MMSI/DSC identity, position
4. Clearly cancel the false distress alert, with date/time UTC

MF false alert concept

Same idea on 2182 kHz radiotelephony after resetting equipment. HF false alerts must be cancelled on each band used.

Never “hope no one heard it.” Coast Guard and other stations treat distress as real until cancelled.

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Channel 16, 2182 kHz, DSC & Silence Periods

GMDSS concept (Key Topic 12)

GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) is intended to automate and improve emergency communications in the maritime industry. The basic concept includes:

• Alerting search and rescue authorities ashore
• Alerting shipping in the immediate vicinity
• Enabling coordinated SAR with minimum delay

GMDSS is primarily based on linking shore SAR authorities with shipping near a vessel in distress. It is required for SOLAS Convention ships of 300 gross tonnage or more (pool answer). DSC distress alerting (single-button alert with MMSI/position) is the modern automated front end to that system—but Element 1 still expects mastery of classic voice MAYDAY procedure on 16 and 2182 kHz.

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Decision Guide for Operators

Master the signals, the priority stack, and the cancellation duty—Element 1 will test all three.