Actions on reception of a DSC distress alert on HF from another ship

Ships receiving a DSC distress alert on HF from another ship shall not acknowledge the alert, but should:

17. watch for reception of a DSC distress acknowledgment from a coast station;

18. while waiting for reception of a DSC distress acknowledgment from a coast station:

prepare for reception of the subsequent distress communication by tuning the HF radiocommunication set (transmitter and receiver) to the relevant distress traffic channel in the same HF band in which the DSC distress alert was received, observing the following conditions:

§ if radiotelephony mode was indicated in the DSC alert, the HF radiocommunication set should be tuned to the radiotelephony distress traffic channel in the HF band concerned;

§ if telex mode was indicated in the DSC alert, the HF radiocommunication set should be tuned to the radiotelex distress traffic channel in the HF band concerned. Ships able to do so should additionally watch the corresponding radiotelephony distress channel;

§ if the DSC distress alert was received on more than one HF band, the radiocommunication set should be tuned to the relevant distress traffic channel in the HF band considered to be the best one in the actual case. If the DSC distress alert was received successfully on the 8 MHZ band, this band may in many cases be an appropriate first choice;

19. if no distress traffic is received on the HF channel within 1 to 2 min, tune the HF radiocommunication set to the relevant distress traffic channel in another HF band deemed appropriate in the actual case;

20. if no DSC distress acknowledgment is received from a coast station within 3 min, and no distress communication is observed going on between a coast station and the ship in distress:

§ transmit a DSC distress relay alert,

§ inform a Rescue Coordination Center via appropriate radiocommunications means.

Transmission of DSC distress relay alert

In case it is considered appropriate to transmit a DSC distress relay alert:

21. considering the actual situation, decide in which frequency bands (MF, VHF, HF) DSC distress relay alert(s) should be transmitted, taking into account ship-to-ship alerting (MF, VHF) and ship-to-shore alerting;

22. tune the transmitter(s) to the relevant DSC distress channel, following the procedures described above;

23. follow the instructions for keying in or selection of call format and relevant information on the DSC equipment keyboard as described earlier;

24. transmit the DSC distress relay alert.