False distress alerts: 7 steps ship operators should take

These figures relate to distress traffic and should not be interpreted as false alerts. However, they highlight the volume and importance of emergency communications handled through the GMDSS and, consequently, the need to ensure that search and rescue resources are not unnecessarily engaged by accidental transmissions.

IMO Resolution MSC.514(105), Guidelines for the avoidance of false distress alerts, provides practical recommendations for Administrations, manufacturers, training providers, companies, masters and seafarers. Adopted in April 2022, the revised guidelines superseded Resolution A.814(19) from 1 January 2024.

For shipping companies and crews, several measures are particularly important.

1. Make sure crews can operate the equipment onboard

Holding a GMDSS certificate is not enough on its own. Personnel responsible for transmitting distress alerts should be properly instructed in, and competent to operate, the specific radio equipment installed onboard their vessel.

Those responsible for distress communications should also ensure that other crew members understand how to use GMDSS equipment to send a distress alert in an emergency.

IMO recommends that instruction on the use of emergency communication equipment is incorporated into each abandon-ship drill.

2. Control GMDSS testing and drills

Testing and training can themselves create a risk of accidental transmission if procedures are not properly followed.

IMO states that GMDSS equipment testing should only be undertaken under the supervision of the person responsible for communications during distress situations. Testing and drills should never be allowed to generate a false distress alert.

Operators should therefore make sure crews understand the equipment’s test functions and the difference between testing and activating an actual distress alert.

3. Keep registration information up to date

Accurate equipment registration enables search and rescue authorities to quickly identify a vessel and obtain information needed to respond appropriately.

Masters should confirm that the encoded identities of Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) are properly registered in a database accessible to SAR authorities.

Registration information for EPIRBs, Digital Selective Calling (DSC) equipment and ship earth stations should also be immediately updated whenever information relating to the vessel changes, such as its owner, name or flag. Relevant GMDSS equipment should be reprogrammed where necessary.

4. Pay close attention to EPIRB installation and handling

EPIRBs should be installed by qualified personnel and in accordance with manufacturers’ instructions. Their location should allow them to float free and activate automatically if the vessel sinks, while protecting them against tampering or accidental activation.

IMO also draws attention to correct use of the EPIRB lanyard. There have been cases where lanyards were attached to the vessel, preventing the EPIRB from floating free. The lanyard is intended to allow survivors to secure the beacon to a survival craft or person in the water.

Where coding is changed or batteries are serviced, manufacturers’ requirements should be strictly followed.

5. Do not activate an EPIRB unnecessarily

EPIRBs are designed to call for assistance when a vessel cannot obtain help through other means and to provide position and homing information to SAR units.

IMO therefore advises that EPIRBs should not be activated when assistance is already immediately available.

6. If an alert is transmitted accidentally, cancel it

An accidental distress alert should never simply be ignored.

If one has been transmitted, the vessel should make every reasonable attempt to contact the relevant Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) by any available means and cancel the false alert in accordance with the applicable GMDSS procedures.

After emergency use, an EPIRB should also be retrieved and deactivated where possible.

Prompt cancellation is important because SAR authorities must otherwise treat a received distress alert as potentially genuine.

7. Dispose of obsolete EPIRBs safely

Damaged or obsolete EPIRBs can still create problems if they are discarded without being properly deactivated.

IMO advises that when an EPIRB is damaged, no longer required or remains onboard a vessel being sent for scrap, it should be made inoperable. This may involve removing the battery and, where possible, returning the unit to the manufacturer, or otherwise ensuring that it can no longer transmit.