Marine radio was first installed on ships around the turn of the 20th century. In those early days, radio was used primarily for transmission and reception of passenger telegrams. Radio watch-keeping hours were not standardized, and there was no regulatory requirement for carriage of radio by ships. Indeed, there was a general lack of regulation […]
IMO has revised its guidance on Cospas-Sarsat International 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database (IBRD) Need for EPIRB registration and associated databases The provisions relevant to EPIRB registration apply to all ships on all voyages, and are as follows: “Each Contracting Government undertakes to ensure that suitable arrangements are made for registering global maritime distress and […]
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search is conducted over. These include mountain rescue; ground search and rescue, including the use ofsearch and rescue […]
CCTV (closed-circuit television) is a TV system in which signals are not publicly distributed but are monitored, primarily for surveillance and security purposes. CCTV relies on strategic placement of cameras, and observation of the camera’s input on monitors somewhere. CCTV systems may operate continuously or only as required to monitor a particular event. A more advanced form of […]
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used by ships and vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships, AIS base stations, and satellites. When satellites are used to detect AIS signatures, the term Satellite-AIS (S-AIS) is used. AIS information supplements marine radar, which continues to be the primary method of collision avoidance for water […]
Radar is an object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio waves or microwaves that bounce off any object in their path. The object returns a tiny part of […]
Vessel traffic services – VTS – are shore-side systems, which range from the provision of simple information messages to ships, such as position of other traffic or meteorological hazard warnings, to extensive management of traffic within a port or waterway. Generally, ships entering a VTS area report to the authorities, usually by radio, and may […]
The introduction of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) marked the most important change in maritime safety since the advent of radio in 1899. Modern satellite technology has resulted in a transformation of the maritime distress system, with the GMDSS making extensive use of satellites for rapid and reliable communications. Inmarsat provides the […]
DSC is, basically, a paging system that is used to automate distress alerts sent over terrestrial (i.e.: non-satellite) VHF, MF and HF marine radio systems. The DSC system’s digital processing techniques, combined with the relatively narrow receiver bandwidths used, provide a DSC signal with resistance to noise and fading over the radio path. This result […]
MF/HF RT radio is often called an SSB radio. It is a transmitting-receiving system often referred to as a Transceiver (Tx/Rx), which allows the operator to either transmit or receive information by voice. MF/HF radios use SSB (single sideband) modulation for voice communication. The same set may also be used NBDP (Narrow Band Direct Printing) communication, also called TELEX. MF/HF radios […]
