As a long time ham (since 1959) and a person who has supervised more then
1000 Maritime SAR (Search and Rescue cases) I hope the following information
might answer some of the questions that members of this reflector have asked
about the MMSN petition.
I find it interesting when the MMSN states "its for the ships." Any vessel
thats big enough to be called a ship is big enough to be required to comply
with the International regulations covering Maritime Emergency
Communications.
SOLAS/GMDSS (Safety of Life at SEA) dictates:
A) Equipment requirements.
1.Either 2 MF/HF GMDSS compliant transceivers with associated controller
(real SO2R) and other accessories, or
2. 1 MF/HF tcvr and compliant SAT comms.
3. 406MHZ GMDSS compliant EPIRB and a host of other items.
B) The procedures for communications during a maritime emergency.
Dedicated
Frequencies are set aside and monitored 24/7 by trained operators who
have direct access to the needed resources.
C) License requirements for GMDSS radio operators. All deck officers have
a
GMDSS operators license and completion of a 70 hour classroom and
practical
course.
The procedures are very simple, you activate the EPIRB and send a sat
message to
the nearest JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Center) and then monitor the
most suitable
MF/HF GMDSS frequency for further communications.
Any Deck Officer not following this procedure would be considered to be
putting the
lives of those aboard at risk and be subject to prosecution. Obviously ham
radio is
not a viable option.
MMSN and Yachts:
The MMSN caters to cruising yachts, that is their only constituency. The
MMSN has its
usefulness, however, they seem to loose sight of their limitations at times
and I believe
they give a false sense of security to many yachters. The members of MMSN
are not highly
trained and do not have direct access to the resources needed to properly
respond to a
serious emergency.
The MMSN tracks many yachts on a daily basis, thats a good thing and should
be encouraged,
it provides useful information. The MMSN is a place where cruising
yachtsman can get
some very useful information from other cruisers, also a good thing.
I dont believe a cruiser should become overly dependent on ham nets but
instead use it as
an additional service. Any cruiser who relies on a net like MMSN is simply
a foolish
amateur mariner who may be putting the life of others aboard his vessel at
risk. The sane
approach would be to mimic the commercial operators. Have a 406 EPIRB that
encodes your
position and vessel information aboard. Know the GMDSS procedures and
frequencies.
Pleasure vessel operators are not required to have an GMDSS operators
license in order to
use the system in an emergency.
The need for a ham net with dedicated clear frequencies for maritime
emergencies is
clearly not needed and in some cases could be detrimental. This topic could
be debated
to death but the prudent practices for a yachter would not change.
I did not elaborate on many of the statements made above and someone is
probably going to
be offended. The statements I've made here are the product of years of
experience as
a professional, I could write (and have) pages of discussion and provide
case by case
examples, however, the conclusions would not change. I have no intentions
of entering
into a debate with others on this topic.
KH6DV
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