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Introduction to GMDSS
During the 18th century, the ships sailing in international and coastal waters were
dependent on the Morse code to send any kind of distress signal to a coastal
authority or ships in the nearby vicinity during emergency. Since it was a
transmission of texture information using tones or lights, this kind of message was
never very clear to understand what kind of emergency is there on board ships.
Therefore, an internationally agreed safety procedure was adopted by IMO under
SOLAS chapter IV which is known as GMDSS- Global Maritime Distress Safety
System.
Read -> Daily, Monthly and Weekly Tests Of GMDSS equipment on board Ships
In the GMDSS framework, there are different Sea Areas to allot the working
equipment in the respective area. They are as follows:
A1 20 to 50 M VHF DSC
A2 50 to 400 M VHF + MF
To understand the above table further, following are the ranges with regard to the
frequencies in a specific band:
GUARD channels are set put above and below Channel 16 to avoid any
interference on Channel 16. One cannot have seamless traffic on Channel 16 with
interference with regard to other communication aside from distress, safety and
urgency. So the Guard channel frequencies are 156.775 MHz and 156.825 MHz.
Among other things, the VHF set runs on a 24 Volt DC supply with J3E type of
transmission for Radiotelephony and G2B type of transmission for VHF DSC.
GMDSS Training
The handling of GMDSS equipment requires certified training as well as licensing
from the Telecommunication department of the department. The General
Operators Certificate (GOC) is mandatory in order for an officer to be allowed to
handle GMDSS equipment onboard the ship.
The training period is around 12 days and owing to the course being mandatory, it
is advised to call in to an approved institute to book a seat for a future date, well in
advance. Depending which country the individual is from, they must check the
respective institute websites as well as the Ministry of Shipping (or whichever
applicable for their country) website to get the full details on eligibility and criteria
for admission into the GMDSS course.
Over the period of the course, the officer is taught about the various aspects of
GMDSS ranging from Radio Log to sending IMNARSAT messages and all such
aspects of it which will be required when carrying out communication onboard. The
written exam tests the theory whereas the oral examination is a one on one
session with a surveyor who tests the individual on the different aspects of
GMDSS, covering the whole syllabus (theory as well as practical).
The scope of GMDSS is vast and extensive reading on it, through publications and
manuals and all other available means, is the only way to get better at handling the
equipments and gain further knowledge about the setup.
Being a mandatory setup onboard ships which is also the key setup with regard to
emergency situations, it is actually in self interest for the ship’s officer to gain
maximum knowhow on every aspect of the GMDSS.
Disclaimer: The authors’ views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect
the views of Marine Insight. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been
sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any
statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be accurate nor
accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and
do not constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be
followed by the reader.