Whither the GMDSS?

SOLAS Chapter V

SOLAS Chapter V places a requirement on sailors to get weather forecasts before going to sea and to monitor forecasts whilst at sea.  The Global Maritimes Distress and Safety System is in place to make all this possible. For coastal sailors, that means having, at least, marine VHF radio and NAVTEX on board. For ocean going sailors, and depending on which area of the world, it means having INMARSAT-C and/or HF radio in addition. For reasons, variously, of cost, space and power small blue water vessels may have to make a choice of the latter two.

A worrying feature nowadays arises from the increasing power of the Internet in that there is a trend away from the dependable GMDSS services to less reliable, certainly non-operational methods of obtaining weather information when cruising both coastal and blue waters.

Already, there are  sailors who will make long crossings such as Biscay via the traditional outside route with only VHF and, possibly, not even NAVTEX on board. In doing so, they may be depending on a 5-day forecast. That is a recipe for disaster. There are sailors who go trans-ocean with neither HF radio nor INMARSAT-C.  They may be depending upon satellite telephony for their information. In neither case can they comply with the requirements of SOLAS V.

Any diminution in the availability of GMDSS services to small vessels is self defeating in that it will only encourage the increasing use of non operational systems. The discussion regarding the possible cessation of the  USCG HF radio services is a warning shot across the bow..

The Current Situation of the GMDSS

Under Chapter V of the SOLAS Convention, Contracting Governments undertake to provide weather information suitable for shipping (the term is assumed to include all vessels going to sea). Such information is required to be transmitted in text and, as far as practicable, graphic form. As any professional or leisure sailor knows, these services are of fundamental importance to safety of vessel and crew.

For many years the dissemination of weather and other Marine Safety Information has been in a variety of formats. First are those by voice over VHF, MF/SSB and HF/SSB radio.  Secondly, there are messages in text form using satellite or terrestrial radio.  Texts broadcasts are, variously via INMARSAT-C, NAVTEX, Radio Teletype and Simplex Telex over Radio. Third there is Radio Facsimile for the broadcast of synoptic and other charts

The single most important common factor of these  is that they are broadcast. That is, they come to the user automatically, on a scheduled basis. Additionally and importantly, warnings are also broadcast so that, as long as receiving equipment is switched on and within range, all vessels should receive notice of significant deteriorations in the weather, navigation warnings, distress alerts and so on..

A major plus for all these systems is that, INMARSAT-C apart, they use fairly low cost receiving equipment and are suitable for use on the vast majority of small vessels, professional and leisure. Perhaps it is ironic that, with the advent of computers, the reception of Radio Facsimile,  SITOR and RTTY has become relatively easy and inexpensive for small vessels even those with limited power supplies. There are a number of software packages for this and other purposes. For example, synoptic observations broadcast by RTTY can be decoded and a weather chart drawn automatically.

Particularly significant was the initiative by NASA Marine with their Weatherman. This is, effectively, a SSB receiver pre-tuned to four of the DWD RTTY frequencies with built in software to save the texts of forecasts for viewing in soft copy on screen.

The big minus is that the technology is obsolete. In this world of high speed communications, computers and satellite delivery systems, there is diminishing commercial interest in maintaining such transmitting equipment and none in improving them.

Danger Signals

Some years ago now, IMO was considering possible options for replacing Radio Facsimile. Just recently, in a User Notice, dated May 9, 2007 (see the Appendix), the US Coast Guard has requested public comment in order to assess the demand for the HF radio broadcasts of weather forecasts by Radio Facsimile, voice; and SITOR. They say that the infrastructure necessary to provide these services has exceeded its life expectancy; the equipment is no longer manufactured, repairs are difficult to accomplish, and spare parts generally are not available.

Clearly, the writing is on the wall for the old technology and there will be increasing pressure, particularly from those delivering GMDSS services to modernise and to rationalise their hardware in order to reduce costs. 

As a consequence, it is equally certain that, all too  easily, over hasty implementation of new systems will lead to  a very significant deterioration in GMDSS services capable of reception by  leisure sailors and those commercial vessels that are not subject to the full SOLAS regulations.

Although the USCG Notice concerned, specifically,  their own HF services it should be remembered that NAVTEX is another service that uses technology that is over 40 years old. MF/SSB services are already being curtailed. The UK ceased its HF/SSB voice broadcasts for METAREA I some years ago. Perhaps, even VHF could be under threat.

What are the options?

First, the ideal would be for sufficient pressure to be brought upon governments to maintain the old, trusted systems even with their imperfections. To do so would probably require sustained and significant co-ordination between all the user community of small vessels, professional and leisure. The need for safety of life at sea has to be paramount. At the very least, the existing systems should be maintained until such time as affordable alternatives are available to all and in use by the majority.

The second possibility is for the implementation of improved satellite or other communications systems capable of use with low priced and low cost to use receiving equipment. The precedent for such is NAVTEX, a system which can be used on small vessels using receivers that do not nesessarily  meet SOLAS standards. If forecasts and other MSI could be made available using such equipment then the old systems could reasonably be phased out over a suitable period.

The third option is to make use of the Internet which has gained in accessibility over the last few years. When near the coast and within reach of cell phone aerials it is already possible to get much GMDSS weather information at fairly low cost. Over the oceans, or out of reach of land based aerials, then costs of using satellite telephone systems are still too high for many. Perhaps, what is needed is an Internet service maintained to operational standards and funded under the SOLAS convention by Contracting Governments. There would need to be low cost access to such a system both on the high seas and in coastal waters.

The major disadvantage of this option would be that information is not broadcast and that there would be no amendment system whereby warnings were immediately brought to the attention of potential users. One advantage might be that users would always be able to access information and that the penalties of missing a broadcast would evaporate.

The Challenge