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Subelement E
Distress, Urgency & Safety Communications:
Section 31
Response to a Distress Alert
Which statement is true regarding the receipt and acknowledgement of actual Distress follow-on communications by GMDSS ship stations?
  • Ship stations in receipt of Distress alert should not defer acknowledgement for a short interval, so that receipt may be acknowledged by the coast station.
  • A Coast station has the sole obligation to respond. A ship station should wait for the Coast station MMSI DSC Acknowledgment before taking action. If a Coast station has no response in 15 minutes the ship should DSC acknowledge and inform the RCC.
  • Correct Answer
    A ship station that receives a Distress call from another vessel must, as soon as possible, inform the Master or person responsible for the ship of the contents of the Distress communications received.
  • Alerts concerning navigational hazards are second only to Safety traffic.

Which statement is true regarding the receipt and acknowledgement of actual Distress follow-on communications by GMDSS ship stations?

(C). A ship station that receives a Distress call from another vessel must, as soon as possible, inform the Master or person responsible for the ship of the contents of the Distress communications received.

47 CFR 80.1121(a) Ship or ship earth stations that receive a distress alert must, as soon as possible, inform the master or person responsible for the ship of the contents of the distress alert.

47 CFR 80.1121(b) Distress alert relays to “all ships” on these bands may only be sent by a ship who has knowledge that another ship in distress is not itself able to transmit the distress alert, and the Master of the ship considers that further help is necessary.

Please see at Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 80 Subpart W Operating Procedures § 80.1121 Receipt and acknowledgement of distress alerts by ship stations and ship earth stations.

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What is meant by the acronym “EOS" in a DSC message?
  • Error Of Sequence
  • End Of Signals
  • Equal Operating Signals
  • Correct Answer
    End Of Sequence

What is meant by the acronym "EOS" in a DSC message?

(D). End Of Sequence

The “end of sequence” (EOS) character is sent with ARQ, automatic repeat request.

From Recommendation ITU-R M.493-15, Digital selective-calling system for use in the maritime mobile service

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What is the proper procedure to be followed upon receipt of a Distress alert transmitted by use of Digital Selective Calling techniques?
  • Correct Answer
    Set watch on the radiotelephone Distress and Safety frequency associated with the Distress and Safety calling frequency on which the Distress alert was received.
  • Set watch on the DSC alerting frequency in the band of frequencies the alert was received.
  • Set a continuous watch on VHF-FM Channel 13, 16 and DSC on Channel 70.
  • Ship stations equipped with narrow-band direct-printing equipment should respond to the Distress alert as soon as practicable by this means.

What is the proper procedure to be followed upon receipt of a Distress alert transmitted by use of Digital Selective Calling techniques?

(A). Set watch on the radiotelephone Distress and Safety frequency associated with the Distress and Safety calling frequency on which the Distress alert was received.

The requirement is to be on the same frequency and monitor it for further information.

47 CFR 80.1123(b) While at sea, all ships must maintain radio watches for broadcasts of maritime safety information on the appropriate frequency or frequencies on which such information is broadcast for the area in which the ship is navigating.

Please see at Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Chapter I Subchapter D Part 80 Subpart W Operating Procedures § 80.1123 Watch requirements for ship stations.

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What is meant by the acronym “ECC" in a DSC message?
  • Every Cipher Counted
  • Correct Answer
    Error Check Character
  • Error Cannot Confirm
  • Even Characters Counted

What is meant by the acronym "ECC" in a DSC message?

(B). Error Check Character

From Recommendation ITU-R M.493-15, Digital selective-calling system for use in the maritime mobile service

The error-check character (ECC) is the last character sent. It helps to catch and correct errors resulting from interference in transmission.

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What action should be taken on receipt of a DSC Distress alert?
  • Read the display screen and/or printout, silence the alarm, always call the Master to confirm the alert is real.
  • Correct Answer
    Silence the alarm, read the display screen and/or printout and listen for any follow-on transmissions.
  • Listen for any follow-on voice/TELEX transmission on the appropriate DSC frequency.
  • Silence the alarm, read the display screen and/or printout, only call the Master if the alert is within 500 NM.

What action should be taken on receipt of a DSC Distress alert?

(B). Silence the alarm, read the display screen and/or printout and listen for any follow on transmissions.

The other choices include steps that are not reasonable in this situation.

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What action should be taken if a Distress alert is received on the 12 MHz DSC frequency?
  • Use DSC to acknowledge/relay the alert using the 12 MHz DSC frequency.
  • Do nothing. Ship is too far away to render assistance.
  • Correct Answer
    Set the transceiver to 12290.0 kHz simplex J3E emission.
  • Set the transceiver to 12520.0 kHz simplex F1B/J2B emission.

What action should be taken if a Distress alert is received on the 12 MHz DSC frequency?

(C). Set the transceiver to 12290.0 kHz simplex J3E emission.

From VHF AND SSB RADIO CHANNELS, FREQUENCIES, AND HF FREQUENCY PROPAGATION PREDICTION CURVES

Class of Emission J3E is a duplex ships' transmit carrier frequency 12290.0 kHz.

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