GMDSS - Global Maritime Distress Safety System – is an internationally agreed set of procedures and communication protocols designed to increase safety at sea and ensure that no matter where a ship is in distress, aid can be dispatched quickly and efficiently. The basic concept is that search and rescue authorities ashore, as well as shipping in the vicinity of the vessel in distress, can be rapidly alerted via satellite and terrestrial communication techniques so that they can launch a coordinated search and rescue operation quickly and efficiently.
Introduced in 1999 by the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and bringing to an end the reliance on Morse code, GMDSS uses a combination of satellite and terrestrial radio services and has improved the protocol for international distress signals so that they can be relayed from ship to shore as well as between vessels. It brings together several functions which have been in operation for many years. For example, it automatically alerts ships of a mayday in the vicinity and determines the position of the vessel in distress, and helps ships to home in on it. GMDSS also provides for automatic distress alerting and locating in cases where a radio operator doesn't have the time or opportunity to send out a mayday call or SOS, and it requires ships to receive and transmit maritime safety broadcasts which could prevent an emergency situation from happening in the first place. The main types of equipment used in GMDSS include EPIRBs, NAVTEX, Inmarsat, SARTs and DSC radios.
According to GMDSS, all passenger ships and all cargo ships over 300 gross tonnage on international voyages have to carry specific satellite and radio communications equipment so that they can send and receive all local distress alerts and maritime safety information, and to facilitate maritime communications in general. Recreational vessels are not obliged to comply with GMDSS, but many opt to carry DSC (digital selective calling) radios, which can initiate emergency ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore communications. The full regulations governing GMDSS are contained in the 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
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