5944 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 209

4. Radiotelephone watchkeeping duties—(1) Whenever a radio watch on 2182 kHz is being kept in the radio room, this frequency should be monitored for distress, urgency, or safety transmissions.

(2) Where any such transmissions are intercepted, the procedure detailed in clauses 5, 6, and 7 of this Schedule should be followed.

(3) Times of opening and closing any monitoring watch on 2182 kHz and details of any distress, urgency, or safety traffic, which are not repetitions of those already heard on 500 kHz, should be entered in the radio log.

Action to be Taken in Cases of Distress, Urgency, and Safety

5. Distress—(1) The distress call should have absolute priority over all other transmissions. All stations which hear it should immediately cease any transmissions capable of interfering with distress traffic.

(2) In cases of distress affecting own ship, the radio officer should—

(a) obtain from the bridge the ship’s actual or estimated position and, if not available, use the last known position or the true bearing and distance from a fixed geographical position; when using the last known position, time of such position should be stated in UTC;

(b) Normally transmit on 500 kHz using the radiotelegraph distress procedure in accordance with these performance standards; the distress call and message should be sent only on the authority of the master or person responsible for the ship; other suitable international distress frequencies (or other frequencies), if necessary, may be used.

(c) Repeat at intervals, especially during silence periods, the distress message, preceded by the alarm signal if necessary, and the distress call, until an answer is received.

(d) If no answer is received to a distress message sent on a distress frequency, repeat the message on any other available frequency on which attention might be attracted.

(e) Use any means in order to attract attention.

(f) Pass to the master all distress communications immediately on receipt.

(g) If the ship has to be abandoned before being located by other ships, set the radio apparatus for continuous emission if considered necessary and circumstances permit.

(3) In cases of distress affecting other ships, the radio officer should—

(a) Copy the message and pass it to the bridge.

(b) At the same time if possible, ensure that a direction finder bearing is obtained; if the bearing is relative, the ship’s heading should also be noted.

(c) If, beyond any doubt, the ship is in the vicinity of the distress, immediately acknowledge receipt; in areas where reliable communications with coast stations are practicable, defer acknowledgement for a short interval so that a coast station may acknowledge receipt.

(d) If, beyond any doubt, the ship is not in the vicinity of the distress, allow a short interval of time to elapse before acknowledging receipt of the message to permit nearer stations to acknowledge receipt without interference.

(e) Not acknowledge receipt—

    (i) When the ship is a long distance away from the distress and not in a position to render assistance, except when a distress message is heard which has not been acknowledged;

    (ii) Of a distress message transmitted by a coast station until the master has confirmed that the ship is in a position to render assistance;

(f) In the case indicated in paragraph (e)(i) of this subclause, and when—

    (i) it has been learned that a ship in distress is not itself in a position to transmit a distress message; or

    (ii) The master considers that further help is necessary; or

    (iii) An emergency position—indicating radio beacon signal has been received while no distress or urgency traffic is being passed—

    transmit a distress message using the appropriate transmitter on full power, whenever possible preceded by the alarm signal, using the DDD procedures on 500 kHz or “Mayday Relay” procedures on 2182 kHz or 156.8 MHz, as appropriate, or on any other frequency which may be used in case of distress, and take all other steps, as if it were own ship in distress, to notify authorities who may be able to render assistance.

(g) On the order of the master, transmit as soon as possible own ship’s name, position, speed, and estimated time of arrival at the distress position and, if the position of the ship in distress appears doubtful, the true bearing of the ship in distress preceded by the abbreviation QTE and classification of the bearing.

(h) Record and pass to the bridge other acknowledgments, positions and times of arrival, and other relevant distress traffic.

(i) If control of distress traffic is taken over by a coast station or a ship more favourably placed to assist the one in distress, normally work with that control station:

    (j) Remain on continuous watch until the distress ends; if adequate assistance is being provided by closer ships or contact has been made with coast stations and no possibility exists of being required to provide relay facilities or specialised advice, normal watch may be resumed.

6. Urgency—(1) In cases of urgency affecting own ship, the radio officer should—

   (a) Using the radiotelegraph urgency procedure, send, only on the authority of the master, the urgency signal and message on 500 kHz or on any other frequency which may be used in case of distress. In the case of a long message, or a medical call, or when repeating the message in areas of heavy traffic, transmit the message on a working frequency. In such cases include in the call details of the frequency on which the urgency message will be transmitted.

   (b) If the urgency message concerns the loss of a person or persons overboard, be permitted to precede the call by the alarm signal, only when the assistance of other ships is required and cannot be satisfactorily obtained by the use of the urgency signal.

   (c) If the message is addressed to a particular station, establish contact with that station before transferring to a working frequency.

   (d) If the message is addressed to all stations, allow a reasonable period before repeating the call and transmitting the message.

   (e) When an urgency addressed to all stations is ended and action is no longer necessary, send a message of cancellation on the relevant frequency addressed to all stations.

(2) In cases of urgency affecting other ships, the radio officer should—

(a) As the urgency signal has priority over all other communications except distress, take care not to interfere with it or the transmission of the message that follows the urgency signal.

(b) Copy the message and pass it to the bridge.

(c) Continue to listen for at least 3 minutes; at the end of that period, if no urgency message has been heard, notify a coast station, if possible, of the receipt of the urgency signal; thereafter resume normal working.

(d) If the urgency signal is addressed to a particular station, be permitted to continue working on frequencies other than