Distress Signals and Safety Equipment

Prerequisites

• You have read the lesson Passing the ICC Practical Assessment and know that the safety brief and boat preparation are assessed on the water.
• You know what a VHF radio is. To use one legally you, or someone aboard, should hold a radio operator's certificate such as the RYA Short Range Certificate (SRC), and many charter countries insist on it. In an emergency anyone may use the radio.
• You know the basic structure of the collision regulations (see the lesson Collision Regulations for the ICC). Distress signals are Rule 37 and Annex IV.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• Make and recognise the visual and sound distress signals of Annex IV of the COLREGs, including how to signal distress with no radio (ICC regulations 8, coastal navigation 6).
• Send a DSC distress alert and a MAYDAY voice call, and explain EPIRBs and PLBs (safety 1: distress alerting).
• Choose, fire and look after flares safely.
• Fit, check and instruct crew on lifejackets, including crotch straps (safety 1).
• Choose and use the right fire extinguisher, and use a kill cord (safety 1).
• Give a complete crew safety brief (sail and power preparation 1).
• Prepare a boat before setting out: engine checks, fuel for range, weather forecast and not overloading (safety 2).

Distress, Urgency and Safety

Use the right level of call:

Distress signals are only for grave and imminent danger. Misusing them is an offence and diverts rescue services from real casualties.

Annex IV: the Distress Signals

Rule 37 says a vessel in distress and requiring assistance shall use or show the signals in Annex IV. You should be able to make the common ones and recognise all of them.

Annex IV also lists an orange sheet with a black square and circle, for aircraft, and a dye marker.

If you had no radio

The assessor asks: "If you had no radio on board, how would you signal distress?" Concentrate on the common ones:

1. Red flares: a parachute rocket to raise the alarm at a distance, hand flares to pinpoint you once help is near.
2. Orange smoke by day, especially for a lifeboat or helicopter searching for you.
3. Arm signal: slowly raise and lower your outstretched arms.
4. Continuous sounding of your horn.
5. SOS by torch or horn.
6. A mobile phone: dial 999 or 112 in the UK and ask for the Coastguard; 112 works across the EU. Coverage at sea is patchy, and a phone call alerts only the person you call, not nearby vessels, so it is a backup, not your primary means.

"What does an orange smoke signal mean?" A vessel or person in distress, normally by day.

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Calling for Help by Radio

DSC distress alert

A DSC VHF radio, connected to GPS and programmed with the boat's MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity), can send a distress alert at the press of a button. The alert is digital, goes out on channel 70, and carries your MMSI, position and time. Every DSC set within range, ashore or afloat, sounds an alarm.

1. Lift the cover over the red DISTRESS button.
2. If you have time, press it briefly and select the nature of distress (fire, sinking, man overboard and so on). If not, skip this step: an undesignated alert is fine.
3. Press and hold the button for about 5 seconds until the alert is sent.
4. The radio switches to channel 16. Wait about 15 seconds for an acknowledgement from the Coastguard.
5. Send the MAYDAY voice call on channel 16, acknowledged or not.

If not acknowledged, the radio repeats the alert automatically about every four minutes. On a charter boat, check at handover that the VHF is connected to GPS (the screen shows a position) and has an MMSI; otherwise the alert goes out with no position.

The MAYDAY voice call

Speak slowly and clearly on channel 16, high power. The RYA memory aid is MIPDANIO: Mayday, Identify, Position, Distress, Assistance, Number, Information, Over.

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY. This is yacht Blue Heron, Blue Heron, Blue Heron, call sign MABC7, MMSI 235 012 345. MAYDAY Blue Heron, call sign MABC7, MMSI 235 012 345. My position is 236 degrees True from Anvil Point, 3 miles. I am on fire and require immediate assistance. Four persons on board. Abandoning to the liferaft. Over.

Then release the transmit button and listen. If no reply, repeat. Write the call out on a card by the radio so any crew member can read it, with the boat name, call sign and MMSI filled in. Give position as latitude and longitude, or a bearing and distance from a charted landmark.

Cancelling a false alert. If the button is pressed by mistake, cancel it through the radio's menu if it has a cancel function, then call on channel 16: "All stations, all stations, all stations, this is (name, call sign, MMSI). Cancel my distress alert of (date and time). Over." There is normally no penalty for an honest mistake that is promptly cancelled.

The following summary card shows the common distress signals and the MAYDAY call together.

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EPIRB and PLB

An EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) transmits on 406 MHz to the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system, which passes the alert and position to a rescue coordination centre. It also transmits a weaker 121.5 MHz homing signal that lifeboats and helicopters use to find you. Most now include GPS, so a position reaches rescuers within minutes.

• A Category I EPIRB sits in a bracket with a hydrostatic release and floats free and switches on automatically if the boat sinks. Category II is switched on by hand.
• It must be registered to the boat (in the UK, free with the UK Beacon Registry), so that rescuers can identify the vessel and call your emergency contacts. On a charter boat it is registered to the boat and its flag state; check the battery and hydrostatic release dates.
• Battery life is at least 48 hours. Use the test button as the maker recommends; it does not send an alert.

A PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) works the same way but is registered to a person, is carried on your lifejacket, has a battery life of at least 24 hours, and must be switched on by hand and held with the antenna upright and clear of the water.

An AIS MOB beacon is different: it alerts AIS sets and plotters on vessels nearby, including your own, but does not reach the Coastguard by satellite.

Use beacons in grave and imminent danger. If you set one off by mistake, switch it off and tell the Coastguard at once.

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Flares

The three types

White hand flares are not distress signals. They are collision warning flares, used to show your position to a vessel that has not seen you.

Firing flares safely

• Read the instructions now, not in the dark. Every make differs in how it is uncapped and triggered.
• Hand flares: hold at arm's length, downwind and over the side, pointing away from the boat and from your face. Hot dross drips from the flare. Wear gloves if you have them. Do not look at the flame.
• Parachute rockets: hold firmly, pointing up. They turn into the wind, so in a strong wind aim slightly downwind. Under low cloud, fire at about 45° downwind so the flare burns beneath the cloud base.
• Never fire a rocket when a helicopter is close. Use a hand flare or smoke instead.
• Fire when someone can see it. A rocket over an empty sea is wasted. Fire one, wait a minute or two, and fire a second to confirm the bearing for anyone who saw the first.

Stowage, dates and disposal

Keep flares in a waterproof container that can be reached quickly from the cockpit, with some in the grab bag. They usually expire three years from manufacture: check the date at charter handover. Never throw old flares away or set them off for fun; it is illegal and launches a search. In the UK use an approved disposal scheme; abroad, return them to the charter company. LED electronic distress lights are a useful addition, but most charter countries still require pyrotechnics.

Lifejackets

Choosing the right one

Most yacht lifejackets are 150 N gas-inflated jackets, either automatic (a capsule fires the gas cylinder when it gets wet) or manual (you pull the toggle). Children need properly sized jackets with crotch straps, chosen by the child's weight.

Fitting

1. Put it on like a waistcoat, with the bladder cover closed and the toggle on the outside.
2. Fasten the waist belt and tighten it until you can just slide a flat hand underneath. A loose jacket rides up when it inflates.
3. Fasten the crotch or thigh straps. Without them an inflated jacket can ride up over your head and leave your face in the water.
4. If it has a harness, clip your tether to the D-ring, not to a strap.
5. Know where the toggle, the oral inflation tube, the light, the whistle and the sprayhood are.

Checking

Check each jacket before use, and properly at least once a season. On a charter boat, check every one at handover: missing crotch straps and fired cylinders are common.

• Firing head in date, with its indicators green, not red.
• Gas cylinder screwed in hand-tight, not pierced and not corroded.
• Bladder sound: inflate it by mouth through the tube and leave it overnight. It should still be firm.
• Webbing, buckles and stitching sound; light working; whistle, sprayhood and reflective tape present.

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When to wear them

The skipper decides and the brief should say. Most skippers require lifejackets: at night; in fog or poor visibility; in rough weather or when reefed; when alone on deck; in the tender; for non-swimmers and children at all times on deck; and whenever the skipper says so. Many skippers simply require them at sea at all times.

Fire

Prevention

Most yacht fires start in the engine compartment, the galley or the electrics. LPG (bottled gas) is heavier than air and collects in the bilge, where a spark can ignite it. Turn the gas off at the bottle after use, keep the gas locker drain clear, and if you smell gas: no switches, no flames, turn off the gas, ventilate and pump the bilge with the manual pump.

Extinguisher types

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Using an extinguisher

Remember PASS: Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep from side to side. Keep low, keep your escape route behind you, and get everyone else on deck with lifejackets on. Small extinguishers last only 10 to 15 seconds, so do not waste it.

• Pan fire: turn off the gas, smother with the fire blanket, and leave it covered until cool. Never use water.
• Engine fire: stop the engine and shut off the fuel. Do not open the engine hatch wide, which feeds the fire with air. Discharge an extinguisher through the fire port if fitted, or through the smallest possible gap.
• If the fire is not out in a minute or two, send a MAYDAY, prepare the liferaft and be ready to abandon. A GRP boat can be fully alight within minutes.

Extinguishers should be placed near each exit, so you never have to pass the fire to reach one. Check gauges are in the green and the pins and seals are intact.

The Kill Cord

A kill cord (engine stop switch lanyard) stops the engine if the driver leaves the helm position. Most RIBs, sportsboats and outboard tenders have one; a sailing yacht's tender outboard usually does.

• Attach it around your thigh or to a strong point on your lifejacket designed for it, never to the wheel or console.
• Test it at the start of each day: start the engine, pull the cord, check the engine stops.
• Carry a spare so that someone else can restart the engine to come back for the driver.
• Change drivers properly: stop, move the cord to the new driver, then go.
• Never start or drive without it. Thrown-out drivers have been killed by their own unmanned boat circling back over them.

Wireless kill switches, worn as a fob, do the same job.

The Crew Safety Brief

This is assessed on every ICC practical test, and the examiner may simply say "brief me". Give it before leaving the berth, in two parts.

Below decks

• Lifejackets: where they are, how to fit them, crotch straps, and when to wear them.
• Fire extinguishers and fire blanket: locations and use. Gas: how to turn it off at the bottle.
• Flares and grab bag: where they are and how to fire them.
• VHF: how to send a DSC alert and a MAYDAY, using the card by the radio. Stress that the skipper could be the casualty.
• First aid kit, seacocks and the heads, the bilge pump, hatches closed at sea.
• Seasickness: tell the skipper early, stay on deck, stay clipped on.

On deck

• Harnesses, jackstays and strong points; one hand for yourself, one for the boat.
• Man overboard: shout, point and keep pointing, throw the lifebuoy and danbuoy, press MOB on the plotter.
• Liferaft: where it is, how to launch it, and that it is the last resort.
• How to start and stop the engine and use the kill cord if fitted.
• Winches, sheets, the boom and the danger zone in a gybe; mooring lines and keeping fingers clear.

Keep it short and practical: show the gear rather than describe it.

Preparing the Boat

The ICC syllabus asks for "sensible precautions before setting out": engine checks, fuel for the trip, a weather forecast and not overloading.

Engine checks

Before starting:

• Fuel: enough for the trip (see below), fuel tap on.
• Oil: engine and gearbox oil on the dipstick.
• Cooling: raw water seacock open, strainer clear; coolant level in the header tank.
• Belts: drive belt tight and not frayed.
• Bilge and leaks: bilge dry, no oil, fuel or water leaks.
• Electrics: battery switches on, charge level reasonable.
• Lines and props: nothing trailing near the propeller.

To start: gear lever in neutral, kill cord on if fitted, start, and then check cooling water is coming out of the exhaust (or from the tell-tale on an outboard), the oil pressure warning light goes out, and the battery is charging. The examiner expects you to do this every time.

Fuel for range

Use the rule of thirds: one third of your fuel for the outward trip, one third for the return and one third in reserve for bad weather, adverse tide and detours. Work in litres and hours, not the gauge.

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Worked example. A 9 m planing motor boat holds 400 litres and burns 60 litres per hour at 20 knots. A third is 133 litres, which is about 2.2 hours, or about 44 miles. Your furthest point out should be no more than 44 miles away, less into a head sea. Slow the same boat to 8 knots in displacement mode and the burn may drop to 10 litres per hour, transforming its range: knowing that is how you get home if the forecast was wrong.

Weather forecast

Get a forecast for the whole time you will be out, plus a margin, from a reliable source: in the UK the Met Office shipping and inshore waters forecasts, Coastguard VHF broadcasts and Navtex; abroad, the national weather service, Coastguard or port authority VHF broadcasts, Navtex, and the charter base's morning briefing. Check wind strength and direction, how it changes, sea state and visibility, and decide whether it suits the boat and the crew. Have a plan B and a bolt-hole.

Not overloading

Every recreational boat built for sale in the UK or EU since 1998 carries a builder's plate showing the design category (A to D), the maximum number of persons and the maximum load. Do not exceed them. An overloaded boat sits low, takes water over the side, and loses stability. The commonest overload is the tender: six people and the shopping in a dinghy rated for four, at night, without lifejackets, is a classic way to drown. Stow heavy items low and central, and make two trips.

Before you go

Tell someone ashore your plan and expected return, and in the UK consider logging the trip with the RYA SafeTrx app. Check the safety equipment against the charter inventory: lifejackets, liferaft service date, flares, extinguishers, EPIRB, first aid kit, lifebuoy, danbuoy, bilge pumps and VHF.

Worked Example: Fire Off the Coast

You skipper a 10 m motor cruiser 6 miles south of the coast with four aboard. Smoke appears from the engine hatch and the engine alarm sounds.

1. Stop the engine and shut off the fuel. You order everyone into lifejackets and onto the aft deck.
2. Fight it if safe. You discharge a dry powder extinguisher through the fire port without opening the hatch. Smoke continues.
3. Raise the alarm. You lift the cover of the DSC button, select "fire" and hold the button for 5 seconds. After 15 seconds the Coastguard acknowledges. On channel 16 you send MAYDAY: name, call sign, MMSI, position, "on fire, require immediate assistance", four persons, preparing to abandon.
4. Back up the alert. You give the grab bag to one crew member and arm the EPIRB.
5. Abandon if necessary. The fire spreads. You launch the liferaft on the windward side, put the crew in with the grab bag, and stay tied on until clear. The EPIRB goes with you.
6. Help arrives. A lifeboat is in sight by day: you fire an orange smoke flare downwind. At night you would use a red hand flare.

Common Mistakes

• Firing a rocket with nobody to see it. Wait until a vessel, aircraft or the shore is likely to be watching.
• Firing a rocket near a helicopter. Use smoke or a hand flare.
• Expired or unknown flares. Check dates at handover.
• Lifejackets without crotch straps, or with loose waist belts. They ride up over your head.
• A DSC radio with no GPS feed or no MMSI. The alert has no position or cannot be sent.
• The skipper is the only one who can send a MAYDAY. Brief the crew and put a card by the radio.
• Water on a fuel, oil or electrical fire. Use powder, CO2 or foam, or the fire blanket for a pan.
• Opening the engine hatch on a fire. It feeds the fire with air.

Summary

• MAYDAY for grave and imminent danger; PAN PAN for urgency; SÉCURITÉ for safety information.
• Annex IV signals include red rockets and hand flares, orange smoke, the arm signal, continuous horn, SOS, NC flags, flag and ball, flames, MAYDAY, DSC alerts and EPIRBs.
• Without a radio: flares, orange smoke, arms, continuous horn, SOS, and a mobile phone (999 or 112) as a backup.
• DSC: lift cover, hold the red button 5 seconds, wait 15 seconds, then send MAYDAY on channel 16 using MIPDANIO.
• EPIRB: 406 MHz satellite alert with GPS and 121.5 MHz homing; register it. PLB: personal, held upright out of the water.
• Rockets to raise the alarm at a distance, red hand flares to pinpoint, orange smoke by day. Fire downwind, read the instructions, check dates.
• Lifejackets: 150 N for coastal use, belt snug, crotch straps always; check firing head, cylinder and bladder.
• Extinguishers: powder for most fires, CO2 for electrics, blanket for pans, never water on fuel or electrics; PASS.
• Kill cord on the driver's thigh and tested daily, with a spare aboard.
• Brief the crew, check the engine, keep a third of the fuel in reserve, get a forecast, and never exceed the builder's plate.

Check Your Understanding

1. If you had no radio on board, how would you signal distress?

Answer: With red parachute rockets and hand flares, orange smoke by day, slowly raising and lowering outstretched arms, continuous sounding of the horn, or SOS by torch or horn. A mobile phone (999 or 112) is a useful backup.

1. What does an orange smoke signal mean?

Answer: A vessel or person in distress requiring assistance, normally used by day to pinpoint position, especially to aircraft.

1. Describe how to send a DSC distress alert.

Answer: Lift the cover, optionally select the nature of distress, press and hold the red DISTRESS button for about 5 seconds, wait about 15 seconds on channel 16 for an acknowledgement, then send a MAYDAY voice call on channel 16.

1. When would you use a red hand flare rather than a parachute rocket?

Answer: When a rescuer is already in sight or close, to pinpoint your position, and whenever a helicopter is nearby. Rockets are for raising the alarm at a distance.

1. Why must lifejacket crotch straps be worn?

Answer: Without them an inflated lifejacket can ride up over the wearer's head, leaving the face in the water.

1. Name three checks you would make on an inflatable lifejacket at a charter handover.

Answer: Any three of: firing head in date with green indicators, gas cylinder screwed in tight and not pierced or corroded, crotch straps present, bladder holds air, buckles and webbing sound, light and whistle present.

1. What would you use on a fat fire in the galley, and what must you never use?

Answer: Turn off the gas and use the fire blanket. Never use water.

1. Where should a kill cord be attached, and why carry a spare?

Answer: Around the driver's thigh or to a designed point on the lifejacket, never to the wheel. A spare lets someone else restart the engine and return for the driver if they go overboard.

1. A boat burns 30 litres per hour at 15 knots and has 180 litres of fuel. Using the rule of thirds, how far out can it go?

Answer: A third is 60 litres, which is 2 hours at 30 litres per hour, so 30 miles out at 15 knots.

1. What does the builder's plate tell you that helps you avoid overloading?

Answer: The design category and the maximum number of persons and maximum load the boat is designed for.