NAVTEX, EGC and maritime safety information

What you do on the bridge

1. Set up the NAVTEX
2. A warning on the track
3. Plot it
4. Give her a wide berth
5. A garbled gale warning
6. Search and rescue
7. EGC on the satellite terminal
8. Routine tests

The oral questions, and what a good answer covers

The key points are in our own words. In the course, these questions come once you have done the job.

1. How does NAVTEX work, and how do you set the receiver up?Often asked

   A good answer covers:

   • An automatic broadcast of maritime safety information on 518 kHz in English, with 490 kHz and 4209.5 kHz for national and tropical services
   • Each message carries B1, the station letter; B2, the subject; and B3 B4, the serial number
   • Select the stations that cover the area, or use automatic selection by position, and change them as the passage goes on
   • Subjects A (navigational warnings), B (meteorological warnings), D (search and rescue and piracy) and L cannot be rejected
   • A message already received is not printed again, except serial 00, which always prints
   • Range is about 200 to 400 miles, so it is a coastal service; beyond it, use the satellite EGC service

   Show me on the bridgeOpen the NAVTEX and read the stations and subjects selected.

2. A navigational warning comes in for a position near your track. What do you do?Often asked

   A good answer covers:

   • Read it at once and work out where it applies against the planned track
   • Plot it on the ECDIS as a note or mariner object, or on the paper chart
   • Amend the passage plan if needed, and give the hazard the berth the warning asks for
   • Tell the master if it affects the plan, and brief the next watch
   • Keep it until it is cancelled or the passage is past it
3. What routine tests and checks does the GMDSS equipment need, and where are they recorded?Often asked

   A good answer covers:

   • Weekly: a DSC test call with a coast station, when within range of one
   • Monthly: the EPIRB self-test, its battery and hydrostatic release expiry dates; the SART and handheld VHF radios checked as the maker's instructions say
   • Everything goes in the GMDSS radio log, with any faults and what was done about them
   • Never send a real distress alert as a test; use the test functions only
4. A NAVTEX message prints with many characters missing. What happens next?

   A good answer covers:

   • With too high an error rate the receiver does not store it as received
   • So when the station broadcasts it again, it prints again
   • Do not guess the missing parts of a warning; wait for the repeat or get it from another source, such as EGC
   • Poor reception may mean the station is too far away, or interference, or a problem with the antenna

How the lesson runs

The tutor's narration from the lesson, step by step. On the bridge, each control lights up as it is named.

1. Brief

   We're heading east at eight knots in open water. Over the next few minutes, NAVTEX and the satellite receiver will bring in warnings for this area.

   These are training messages written for the simulator, not real broadcasts. We'll set the NAVTEX up, read each warning, and act on the ones that matter to us.

2. Set up the NAVTEX

   Go to the NAVTEX at the back of the bridge. Check that station F, for these waters, is in use. Then look at the subjects.

   Try to switch off A, navigational warnings. It won't let you: A, B, D and L can never be rejected. Switch off one we don't need, H, LORAN messages.

3. A warning on the track

   A navigational warning has printed: F A 18, a survey vessel working at a position a couple of miles ahead of us. Read it.

4. Plot it

   Plot it on the ECDIS: put a note at forty degrees twenty three decimal zero north, seventy three degrees forty four west. It sits right on our track.

5. Give her a wide berth

   The warning asks for a wide berth. Alter now to pass at least a mile off. Survey vessels tow gear and may not be able to keep clear of us.

6. A garbled gale warning

   A gale warning came in full of asterisks. Too many errors, so the receiver has not stored it, and will print it again when the station repeats it.

   Don't guess what it says. Wait for the repeat, then read it properly.

7. Search and rescue

   There's an alarm: a search and rescue broadcast, serial zero zero, which always prints and always sounds. Read it. An overdue yacht near our area: keep a sharp lookout.

8. EGC on the satellite terminal

   NAVTEX only reaches a few hundred miles. Beyond that, the warnings come by satellite as EGC. Go to the GMDSS station and read the NAVAREA four warning on the satellite terminal. Notice it shows warnings for our area only.

9. Routine tests

   While you're at the GMDSS station, run the EPIRB self-test, the routine monthly check. Then write the test and the warnings in the GMDSS radio log.