Chapter 1

1. A sea area within the radiotelephone coverage of at least one VHF coast station in which
continuous VHF DSC alerting is available (approx. 20-30 nm)
- Sea Area A1
2. The remaining sea areas outside areas A1, A2 and A3 (basically, the polar regions)
- Sea Area A4
3. A specialized agency of the United Nations, regularly publishes a list of planned and operational
GMDSS shore-based communications facilities available worldwide.
- IMO
4. Give at least 1 functional requirements of GMDSS
- Transmission of ship-to-shore distress alerts by at least two separate and independent means,
using different radiocommunication service;
- Reception of shore-to-ship distress alerts;
- Transmission/reception of ship-to-ship distress alerts;
- Transmission/reception of search and rescue co-ordinating communications;
- Transmission/reception of on-scene communications;
- Transmission/reception of SART signals for locating;
- Transmission/reception of maritime safety information;
- Transmission/reception of general radiocommunications to and from shore-based radio
systems or networks; and
- Transmission/reception of bridge-to-bridge communications.
5. What is used in the GMDSS that includes satellite communications and digital selective calling
techniques in the MF, HF and VHF bands (the latter known as terrestrial systems) enabling a
distress alert to be transmitted and received automatically over short and long distances.
- Digital selective calling (DSC)
6. A document that contains a set of international regulations and standards governing all aspects
of merchant ship operations. The convention has been ratified by all major maritime nations
which operate through the IMO.
- The International Convention for the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS)
7. One of the systems of GMDSS which uses MF radio to provide coastal warnings
- NAVTEX
8. One of the systems of GMDSS which uses Inmarsat satellites to provide coverage from about 76
degrees north to 76 degrees south latitude
- SafetyNET
9. A message that has absolute priority over all other communications.
- Distress message/ communication
10. A type of message that indicates that the calling station has a very urgent message concerning
the safety of a mobile unit or person.
- Urgency message/communications
11. The prefix word used for urgency message.
- Urgency messages transmitted via radiotelephony are prefixed by the words PAN PAN sent
three times
12. This message indicates that the calling station has an important navigational or meteorological
warning to transmit
 - Safety message

13. A prefix word used in transmitting a safety message.

- Safety messages sent via radiotelephony are prefixed by the word SECURITE sent three
times.
14. Communications used to convey routine information between persons on board ships and
those ashore through the public telecommunications network.
- Public Correspondence Communications
15. A radio station established on board a ship for communications with stations ashore and other
ship stations.
- Ship Station
16. A radio station established on land for the purpose of communicating with ships at sea.
- Coastal Radio Station
17. Stations that are established for the operational control of ships in and around ports and
harbors.
- Port operations stations
18. An organization that allocates various bands of frequencies throughout the radio frequency
spectrum to the maritime mobile service and the maritime mobile satellite service.
- International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
19. Operating method in which transmission is made possible alternatively in each direction of a
telecommunication channel, for example by means of manual switching
- Simplex Channel
20. A mode of operation used for distress and calling purposes so that all stations can hear all
others using the frequency.
- Simplex Mode
21. Channel used for communication between ship stations and aircraft stations engaged in
coordinated SAR operations.
- Channel 06
22. A channel designated worldwide as a navigation safety communication channel primarily for
inter-ship navigation safety communications.
- Channel 13
23. This channel is used for distress, urgency, safety and calling.
- Channel 70
24. This channel is used for distress, urgency, safety and calling.
- Channel 70
25. The medium frequency (MF) international distress frequency
- 2 82 KHz
26. In this system the frequency of the radio frequency carrier is modulated or varied by the audio
signal.
- Frequency Modulation (FM)
27. This system, also known as radio telex, is based on various combinations of two tones being
sent over a radio link.
- Narrow band direct printing (NBDP)
28. A paging technique used to automate the initial call between two stations.
- Digital selective calling (DSC)
 Chapter 3

29. This is used for on-scene distress communications to and from survival craft.
- VHF Voice
30. Equipment needed for ships trading exclusively in Sea Area A1 may fit a VHF DSC EPIRB
- 406 MHz EPIRB
31. Equipment needed if the ship is engaged on voyages in any area of Inmarsat coverage where
MSI services are not provided by NAVTEX or HF NBDP
- Inmarsat EGC
32. There are three methods used to ensure availability of GMDSS radio services:
- carriage of a qualified radio/electronic officer (holding a GMDSS First or Second Class Radio-
Electronic Certificate) and adequate spares, manuals and test equipment
- duplication of certain equipment
- shore-based maintenance.
Chapter 4

33. How many Inmarsat’s primary safety satellite constellation covers the surface of the earth up to
latitude 76 degrees North/South comprising IMO Sea Area A3, are installed?
- 4 satellites in geostationary orbit
34. A satellite that follows a circular orbit in the plane of the equator so that it appears to stay
stationary with respect to the earth’s surface.
- Geostationary orbit
35. The term for the satellite own coverage area wherein it’s an area on the earth’s surface within
which an antenna can obtain a view of the satellite
- Footprint
36. This center functions around the clock, coordinating the activities of the NCSs and the LESs in
each ocean region.
- The Inmarsat Network Operations Centre (NOC)
37. This involves the relay of radio signals up to a satellite where it is converted to another
frequency and retransmitted in a downlink.
- Satellite communications
38. A device that converts the frequencies and amplifies them before retransmission back to earth
- Transponder
39. Another term used for dedicated distress button (DDB), in Inmarsat GMDSS satellite terminals
which can be used to activate the distress alerting functions directly, which is important where
time is critical.
- remote distress initiation devices (DIDs)
40. The successor to the Inmarsat — A and B services
- Inmarsat Fleet77
41. This system offers a combination of voice and data communications and is suited for vessels
which require a small antenna lightweight deck equipment and simple hardware.
- Fleet55/33
42. This system is currently the only satellite system required by the SOLAS Convention as a
carriage requirement to receive MSI.
- Inmarsat C
43. A station in the maritime mobile satellite service which provides the interface between ships at
sea and shore-based telecommunications networks which is fully automated.
- Land Earth Stations
44. A station responsible for the overall frequency, signaling and traffic management of its
respective region.
- Network Coordination Stations (NCS)
45. The Inmarsat installation aboard a vessel installed on a wide variety of vessels, from fishing
boats to very large merchant ships and naval vessels.
- Ship Earth Station (SES)
Chapter 5

46. A brief burst of digitized information transmitted from one station to alert another station or
stations.
- DSC message
47. What does MMSI stands for?
- Maritime Mobile Service Identity
48. What does the first three digits of the MMSI represent?
- the first three digits representing the nationality of the administrations responsible for the
station. These three digits are known as the Maritime Identification Digits (MID).
49. The procedure followed in cancelling an inadvertent distress call
- • the words ALL STATIONS, spoken three times
- • the words THIS IS
- • the name of the ship, spoken three times
- • the call sign or other identification
- • the MMSI (if the initial alert has been sent by DSC)
- • the words PLEASE CANCEL MY DISTRESS ALERT OF followed by the time in UTC.
Chapter 6

50. A method of sending telex information over a radio channel.

- NBDP (or radio telex)
51. This mode offers full error correction capabilities and is useable even in very poor radio
conditions.
- Automatic re-transmission request (ARQ) mode
52. This system is used to send messages to particular ships that cannot use their transmitters (ship
may be in port loading hazardous cargoes, etc.)
- The selective forward error correction (SELFEC) mode
 Chapter 7

53. This group of equipment consists of the actual Satcom terminal, usually with a computer type
monitor and keyboard attached, and peripherals such as telephones, facsimile machines and
call alarms.
- below deck equipment (BDE)
54. These channels are used for sending working channel assignment messages to mobiles from
the NCS.
- Time Division multiplex (TDM) channels
55. A service of the Inmarsat system that provides a service which provides the broadcast of
information to selected ships in an ocean region.
- Inmarsat EGC Receivers
56. This test is conducted when an Inmarsat–C SES is first commissioned.
- performance verification test (PVT) (also known as
- a link test)
57. This allows registered information providers to broadcast messages to selected groups of SESs.
- FleetNET
Chapter 8

58. A maritime domain awareness (MDA) initiative to allow member states to receive position
reports from ships operating under their flag, ships seeking entry to a port within their territory,
or ships operating in proximity to the state’s coastline.
- LONG RANGE IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING (LRIT)
Chapter 9

59. This provides control of all transceiver functions and usually includes a keyboard for frequency
selection, a digital frequency display and meter(s) for monitoring equipment performance
- Operator’s Control Unit (OCU)
60. This enables the signals from the transceiver to be coupled (tuned) to the antenna that is
usually mounted externally, very close to the antenna.
- Antenna Tuning Unit (ATU)
61. This control allows the operator to stop the constant background hiss from the receiver.
- Mute control
62. This control adjusts the sensitivity of the receiver. It should normally be left at maximum.

Chapter 10

63. These are small, portable, battery powered radio transmitters that are both watertight and
buoyant and transmit in the 406.0 – 406.1 MHz channel.
- Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons System (EPIRBS)
64. SARSAT means
- Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking.
65. This allows for registration data and additional information to be linked to each beacon.
- unique identifier
66. It has the function to perform matching and merging of alert messages with other messages
received, and sorts the data geographically
- Mission Control Centers (MCCs)
67. What is employed in the COSPAS–SARSAT system that uses the relative motion between a
satellite and an activated beacon to calculate the location of that beacon
- Doppler shift principles
68. The accuracy of COSPAS–SARSAT system in nautical miles
- approximately 3 nautical miles