Global Maritime Distress and Safety System

The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (global maritime distress and safety system ), GMDSS short, is a summary of technical facilities, services and rules for global help in distress cases and for maintenance of navigation. GMDSS was within the scope of SOLAS, the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea, set up (see also International Maritime Organization ( IMO) ).

GMDSS consists of the following components:

  • Marine Radio and coastal radio stations that can by radiotelephony and DSC emit and receive an emergency call
  • Search and Rescue Radar Transponder ( SART ), which emit a characteristic signal when it encounters a radar beam, so as to enable a target drive
  • EPIRB ( Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon ), the supply of Satellite a distress signal, some with position data. Also permitted in the terrestrial area on DSC, currently in Europe but hardly in use.
  • COSPAS / SARSAT: polar orbiting and geostationary satellites to locate and to receive emergency messages from EPIRBs
  • Inmarsat: geostationary satellites for communication
  • Ground stations and ship stations for satellite systems
  • Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre ( MRCC ): operational centers for the coordination of assistance, in Germany perceived by the GMRS in Bremen
  • NAVTEX ( Navigational Abbreviation for text messages), a radio telegraph system, are distributed to the emergency messages, warnings and other nautical information for individual Seeber oak.

Which of these components uses a GMDSS ship depends, as well as for necessary technical equipment from the busy sea area from ( Sea Area A1 to A4).

Sea areas A1 to A4

  • Sea Area A1: area is available within the radiotelephone coverage of at least one VHF coast station in which continuous DSC alerting (channel 70/156.525 MHz) and radio services. Typically, the area has an extension 30-40 nm ( 56-74 km) around the coast radio station.
  • Sea area A2 means an area outside sea area A1, within the radiotelephone coverage of at least one MF coast station in which continuous DSC alerting ( 2187.5 kHz) and radio services is available. For the interpretation one usually goes by day from a range of 180 nautical miles (330 km) Distance from the shoreline out, minus any of A1 areas covered. In practice, a satisfactory coverage often goes beyond that. So at night up to 400 nautical miles (740 km ) are covered distance of the coastline.
  • Sea area A3: an area outside sea areas A1 and A2, which is defined by the overlap of an Inmarsat geostationary satellites. The company Inmarsat guarantees that its system between 70 ° North and 70 ° South works, it works but often also in the peripheral areas to 76 ° North and 76 ° South.
  • Sea area A4: an area outside sea areas A1, A2 and A3. This basically consists of the polar regions, north and south about the 76th degree of latitude, excluding any possible areas A1 or A2.
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