2.4 Log Entries & Required Records
Key Takeaways
- Radiotelephone station logs must record distress, urgency and safety traffic, the required equipment tests, and the identity/qualification of the operator on duty
- The GMDSS radio log is kept at the GMDSS operating position, not in the master's cabin or the chartroom
- EPIRB tests are normally logged monthly, while the compulsory VHF-DSC installation is tested daily at sea
- Key letters or abbreviations may be used in a GMDSS radio logbook provided their meaning is noted in the log itself
- Not every Safety communication received on VHF has to be logged - only those affecting your own vessel's safety or navigation
2.4 Log Entries & Required Records
Quick Answer: Log distress, urgency and safety traffic, required tests, and the operator on duty. The GMDSS radio log lives at the GMDSS operating position. EPIRB tests are logged monthly; the compulsory VHF-DSC installation is tested daily at sea. Abbreviations are allowed if their meaning is noted in the log. Receiving every VHF safety broadcast does not have to be logged.
Section 2.3 covered who must keep a watch and why a log exists. Official sub-topic 1-A-05 (Log Entries) is narrower and more literal: it tests the actual entries, the physical location of the book, and a small set of true/false traps the pool reuses in several forms. This is one of the easiest single points in Element 1 to bank—if you learn the list rather than reason from first principles.
What must be entered
| Entry category | Typical content |
|---|---|
| Distress, urgency and safety communications | The full text or an adequate summary of distress traffic, urgency (PAN PAN) and safety (SECURITE) messages affecting your own station |
| Required tests | Equipment tests the rules or GMDSS carriage require, with date, time and result |
| Operator identity and qualification | The name and licence class of the operator on duty—the log proves a properly licensed operator was there |
| Station and equipment events | Faults, repairs, battery/reserve-power checks, antenna work, and the times a required watch began and ended |
When the pool asks "Radiotelephone stations required to keep logs of their transmissions must include:" and lists several of the above, the key is "All of these." The rules do not let you pick one category and skip the rest.
Where the log is kept
The GMDSS radio log is kept at the GMDSS operating position. Not the bridge chartroom generally, not the master's office, not the ship's safe—at the operating position, where the operator making the entry actually is. The logic is practical: an entry made from memory two decks away is an entry made badly, and an inspector wants the record where the equipment is.
The test-interval numbers
These two intervals show up constantly and are easy to swap:
| Item | Interval | Note |
|---|---|---|
| EPIRB test | Monthly (normally logged monthly) | A self-test, not a live activation |
| Compulsory VHF-DSC installation | Daily at sea | Internal self-test under GMDSS |
| Battery / reserve-power checks | Per carriage rules and the station's own schedule | Covered in section 5.3 |
If a question offers "EPIRB tests are normally logged weekly" or "annually," it is wrong. Monthly is the answer. Do not confuse the monthly test log with the battery replacement date printed on the beacon, which is a different thing entirely (see section 5.2).
Abbreviations: allowed, with one condition
A frequent true/false item: "Key letters or abbreviations may be used in GMDSS Radio Logbooks if their meaning is noted in the log." That is true, and the conditional clause is the whole point. Shorthand is permitted because radio operators write fast under pressure; it is only permitted because the log itself carries a key so that an inspector, a successor operator, or an investigator years later can read it. An abbreviation with no key is an unreadable record, and an unreadable record is functionally no record.
The classic false statement
The pool includes an item asking which log-entry statement is false, and the false one is: "All Safety communications received on VHF must be logged." Think about the volume. A ship on a busy coast may hear dozens of SECURITE navigational and weather broadcasts in a watch. Logging every one would bury the entries that matter. What you log is safety traffic that concerns your own vessel—a hazard on your route, a warning that changes your navigation, a message you acted on.
Contrast that with distress traffic, where the bias runs the other way: distress communications you hear are logged because they may become evidence in a search-and-rescue reconstruction.
Exam traps in this sub-topic
- "Where is the GMDSS log kept?" → at the GMDSS operating position. Every other location listed is a distractor.
- "EPIRB tests are normally logged ___" → monthly.
- Abbreviations → permitted only with their meaning noted in the log.
- "All Safety communications received on VHF must be logged" → false.
- Questions offering "All of these" for the contents of a log are usually correct, because the rule is inclusive. Questions offering "all of these" for a location or an interval are usually wrong, because those are single-valued.
How this connects to inspections
A log is the evidence layer under everything else in Element 1. Watchkeeping rules (1-A-03) say you must listen; log rules (1-A-04 and 1-A-05) say you must be able to prove it. When the FCC inspects a ship station, the log is the first artefact that shows whether the operator held the right licence, whether required tests happened on schedule, and whether distress traffic was handled. Section 2.5 picks up the inspection process itself and the question of who ultimately controls the station.
Where must the GMDSS radio log be kept on board a ship, and how often are EPIRB tests normally logged?
Which statement about log entries is FALSE?
A watchkeeper writes GMDSS log entries using personal shorthand. Under what condition is that acceptable?
A radiotelephone station is required to keep a log of its transmissions. What must the log include?