MAKING A DISTRESS CALL
Lift the red cover. Press and hold the
DISTRESS
key
for three seconds. Your radio transmits
your ship’s location every few minutes until you
receive a response.
NOTE: If the radio displays
Enter User MMSI
, cancel the automatic
distress call and make a normal voice distress call.
Making a Voice Distress Call
Speak slowly - clearly - calmly.
For future reference, write your ship’s name & call sign here:
1. Make sure your radio is on.
2. Press the
16/P
key
to switch to Channel 16 (156.8 MHz). (If the corner of the
display does not show 16, press the
16/P
key
again until it does.)
3. Press the
PUSH-TO-TALK
key
and say: “
MAYDAY -- MAYDAY -- MAYDAY
.”
4. Say “
THIS IS
{name of your ship (three times)} and call sign/ship registration
number (once).
”
5. Repeat “
MAYDAY
{name of your ship}
” once.
6. Tell where you are: (what navigational aids or landmarks are near, or read
the latitude and longitude from your GPS).
7. State the nature of your distress (e.g. are you sinking, medical emergency,
man overboard, on fire, adrift, etc. ).
8. State the type of assistance you need (medical, towing, pumps, etc.).
9. Give number of persons aboard and conditions of any injured persons.
10. Estimate present seaworthiness of your ship (e.g. how immediate is the
danger due to flooding or fire or proximity to shore).
11.
Briefly describe your ship, giving ship name (e.g. “Blue Duck is 32 foot cabin
cruiser, white hull, blue deck house”).
12. Say: “
I WILL BE LISTENING ON CHANNEL 16.
”
13. End message by saying “
THIS IS
{name or call sign of your ship}
, OVER.
”
14. Release the
PUSH-TO-TALK
key
and listen.
If you do not get an answer after 30 seconds, repeat your call, beginning at step 3, above.
Lift the red cover
and press the white
DISTRESS button
underneath.
