7 JAN.]

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

Notice to Mariners No. 2 of 1954

(This notice repeats part of Admiralty Notice to Mariners
No. 3 of 1954.)

3. OFFICIAL RADIO MESSAGES TO BRITISH
   MERCHANT SHIPS—'THE GBMS ORGANIZATION'
   Former Notice 3/53 cancelled.

NOTE.—The substance of this Notice will not be
reproduced in Admiralty Lists of Radio Signals or in Notices
to Ship Wireless Stations. Amendments will be published
weekly in Section VI of Weekly Complete Editions, Admiralty
Notices to Mariners (Corrections to Admiralty Lists of
Radio Signals and Notices to Mariners 3, 3A, and 3B).

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT MASTERS ENSURE THAT
THIS NOTICE IS AVAILABLE TO AND UNDERSTOOD
BY THEIR RADIO OFFICERS. AN EXTRA COPY IS
SUPPLIED FOR THE USE OF THE RADIO OFFICER.

GENERAL

This Notice describes the organizations whereby official
messages are passed to British merchant ships. Such messages
will normally relate to the safety and welfare of the ships
concerned, and may be addressed to one or more individual
ships, or to all ships as in paragraph 10.

2. The organization described below is known as the
   ‘GBMS Organization’ and will not be brought into force
   until so ordered by the Admiralty.

3. In peacetime when Admiralty desires to pass official
   messages to British Merchant Ships, such messages will be
   transmitted under the call sign GACQ and broadcast over
   the long distance organization and/or by 500 kc/s coast
   stations if necessary.

4. When the organization described in this Notice to
   Mariners is ordered to be brought into force—

(a) Ships are to continue to read the traffic from the
area station in whose area they are sailing.
Messages will be broadcast at the same routine
times and on the same frequencies as in the
normal Long Distance Area Scheme and no alterations will be brought into force without prior
notification by GBMS message.

(b) T.R.s ARE TO BE DISCONTINUED.

(c) MESSAGES ARE NOT TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED
unless ships are specially directed to do so in the
text of the message.

(d) DAILY SERIAL NUMBERS WILL BE DISCONTINUED.

(e) SHIPS ARE TO CONFORM TO ANY RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF RADIO WHICH MAY
BE ISSUED BY THE ADMIRALTY.

5. Schedules A and B, also issued in Notices to Ship
   Wireless Stations, are reproduced in this Notice to Mariners
   for convenience. The corresponding diagram of Areas is
   also reproduced.

It must be clearly understood, however, that corrections
to these Schedules may be in arrears and that, when GBMS
Organization is brought into force, Area Transmitting and
Receiving Stations will continue on those frequencies in use
at the time.

6. Every GBMS message will normally be broadcast at
   each Schedule A period for 24 hours after receipt at the
   Area Station, i.e., for 6 transmissions. This number of
   broadcasts will, in the early stages of an emergency, be
   exceeded in the case of Area 1 (Portishead). Messages will
   be broadcast once through at each transmission period and
   ships should make every effort to receive the complete message
   at the first transmission.

Operational Authorities may use their discretion regarding
the number of broadcasts required for a particular ship, when
the level of traffic is such that fewer transmissions are considered justified, but only if satisfied that, knowing the
position of the ship, there can be no doubt of the receipt of
the message.

Navigational warnings will continue to be broadcast in the
last half-hour of each period.

Short Distance

7. In addition to the Schedule A transmissions, messages
   will normally be transmitted from one or more of the
   appropriately situated coast stations shown in paragraph 13.
   They will normally be broadcast on receipt and, as ordered,
   at subsequent routine periods (see paragraph 12 for British
   500 kc/s coast stations routines). They are NOT TO BE
   ANSWERED OR ACKNOWLEDGED unless ships are specially
   directed to do so in the text.

8. After an initial call on 500 kc/s the messages will be
   transmitted on the appropriate working frequency, shown in
   paragraph 13. The naval authority responsible for arranging
   the transmission of GBMS messages in each area is also
   shown.

F

GENERAL MESSAGES

9. GBMS messages addressed to ALL British merchant
   ships will be lettered consecutively commencing with ‘A’,
   in order that Masters can check that all such messages have
   been received.

10. Once the lettered series has been started it is most
    important that all the messages are received, and Masters
    should take the necessary steps to obtain at the first
    opportunity any that are missing.

Copies of lettered messages will be distributed to merchant
ships in harbour by the Naval authorities.

11. Collective call-signs to which general messages will
    be addressed are as follows—

(a) GBMS—All British merchant ships.

(b) GBMS 1 to 9—All British merchant ships in the
area concerned (areas are those shown in the
diagram attached).

e.g. GBMS 3—All British merchant ships in Area 3.

(c) GACQ—All British merchant ships in peace time.

SHIP-SHORE

12. Ships are to conform to any restrictions on the use
    of radio which may be issued by the Admiralty. Provided
    the use of wireless is permissible, a message may be transmitted either on H.F. to one of the stations shown in
    Schedule B, or on M.F. to one of the Coast Stations shown
    in paragraph 13, as appropriate. Certain changes to Schedule
    B answering frequencies will be promulgated by GBMS
    message at a later stage.

13. SHORT DISTANCE COAST STATIONS

Notes.—

• Restricted hours of service.