O Maritime English

Indetification of stations

coast radio station, VTS station, Pilot service station

Ex.:

To coast radio station : Colombo radio

To VTS Station : Gris Nez Traffic

To Pilot Service Station : Sabine Pilot

. If the name or call-sign of a ship is not known, it should be adressed by the phrase : "All ships (in... Area)", followed by one or more of the following:

1) Ship type and special features

2)Position

3)Course and speed

. These elements should be spoken in that order!!!!

. A portable station (e.g a hand-held set) must identify itself by the name of its parent station, followed either by the location in wich it is operating or by a naumber.

.e.g Name of parent station (in this case a ship); WHITEGATE

.Bow of ship WHITEGATE identifys itself as: WHITEGATE

Some abreviations:

ETD - Estimated time of departure

GMT - Greenwich Mean Time

LPG- Liquified Petroleum Gas

LNG - Liquified Natural Gas

ITU - International Telecommunication Union

ULCC - Ultra Large Crude Carrier

VLCC - Very Large Crude Carrier

UTC - Universal Time Coordinated

GMDSS - Global Maritime Distress and Safety System

DSC - Digital Selective Calling

IALA - International Association of Lighthouse Authority

EPIRB - Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon

LASH - Lighter Aboard Ship

OBO - Oil Bulk Ore Ship

RoRo - Roll-on Roll-off

SATCOM - Satellite Communication

SATNAV - Satellite Navigation

The The Decimal point is expressed by the worf decimal or point.

-150 "ONE-FIVE-ZERO"

-2,5 "TWO POINT FIVE OR TWO DECIMAL FIVE"

.Each digit must be given separately

.If the numer is a whole thousand, e.g. 25,000, the number of thousands is given by separate digits followed by the word thousand. If it is not a whole thousand e.g. 25,256, it is given by separate digits without using the word thousand.

ex.: 25,000 = Two-Five-Thousand

25,256 = Two-Five-Two-Five-Six

250,000 = Two-Five-Zero-Thousand