S.I. No. 234/1977 - Signals of Distress (Ships and Water Craft on The Water) Rules, 1977.

S.I. No. 234 of 1977.

SIGNALS OF DISTRESS (SHIPS AND WATER CRAFT ON THE WATER) RULES, 1977.

I, PÁDRAIG FAULKNER, Minister for Transport and Power, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 36 of the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1952 (No. 29 of 1952), and by section 58 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1936 (No. 49 of 1936), hereby make the following rules:

1. (1) These Rules may be cited as the Signals of Distress (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Rules, 1977.

(2) These Rules shall come into operation on the 15th day of July, 1977.

2. The following signals are hereby prescribed as the signals of distress to be used or exhibited, either together or separately, to indicate distress and need of assistance by ships and water craft on the water, namely:

( a ) a gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about one minute;

( b ) a continuous sounding with any fog-signalling apparatus;

( c ) rockets or shells, throwing red stars fired one at a time at short intervals;

( d ) a signal made by radiotelegraphy or by any other signalling method consisting of the group . . . - - - . . . (SOS) in the Morse Code;

( e ) a signal sent by radiotelephony consisting of the spoken word "Mayday";

( f ) the International Code Signal of distress indicated by N.C.;

( g ) a signal consisting of a square flag having above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball;

( h ) flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel or other thing not being a hand flare);

( i ) a rocket parachute flare or a hand flare showing a red light;

( j ) a smoke signal giving off orange-coloured smoke;

( k ) slowly and repeatedly raising and lowering arms outstretched to each side;

( l ) the radiotelegraph alarm signal (which signal is described in the first paragraph of the note to these Rules);

( m ) the radiotelephone alarm signal (which signal is described in the first paragraph of the note to these Rules);

( n ) distress signals transmitted by emergency position-indicating radio beacons;

( o ) the characteristics of the " all ships call " in the selective calling system reserved for alarm purposes only (which call is described in the first paragraph of the note to these Rules).

3. (1) A signal of distress prescribed by these Rules shall be used only for the purpose of indicating that a ship or water craft is in serious and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance from other ships or water craft or from the shore, and such signal shall only be sent by or on the authority of the master or pilot or other person for the time being in charge of—

( a ) a ship or water craft in danger as aforesaid, or

( b ) a ship or water craft which observes that another ship or water craft is not itself in a position to send the signal;

provided that in the case referred to in paragraph (b) of this Rule the signal shall not be sent unless the master, pilot or other person for the time being in charge considers further assistance necessary.

(2) The use of any of the signals of distress prescribed by these Rules, except for the purpose of indicating that a vessel or water craft is in distress, and the use of any signals which may be confused with any of the aforesaid signals, is prohibited.

4. When a ship or water craft has sent out a signal of distress by radio and the master or pilot or other person for the time being in charge subsequently finds that assistance is no longer required, he shall immediately notify all stations.

5. The regulations and procedure laid down by the International Radio-telegraph Convention, and for the time being in force, shall, so far as applicable, be observed in the case of the signals of distress prescribed by these Rules.

6. The Signals of Distress (Ships and Seaplanes on the Water) Rules, 1965 ( S.I. No. 186 of 1965 ) are hereby revoked.

Note:

1. Vessels in distress may use the radiotelegraph alarm signal or the radiotelephone alarm signal to secure attention to distress calls and messages. The radiotelegraph alarm signal, which is designed to actuate the radiotelegraph auto alarms of vessels so fitted, consists of a series of twelve dashes, sent in 1 minute, the duration of each dash being 4 seconds, and the duration of the interval between consecutive dashes being 1 second. The radiotelephone alarm signal consists of 2 audiofrequency tones transmitted alternately over periods of from 30 seconds to one minute. The "all ships call" consists of a continuous sequential transmission of the 11 audiofrequencies used in the selective calling system.

2. Attention is drawn to the relevant sections of the International Code of Signals and the Merchant Ship Search and Rescue Manual and to the following signals:

( a ) a piece of orange-coloured canvas with either a black square or circle or other appropriate symbol (for identification from the air);

( b ) a dye marker.

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 15th day of July, 1977.

PÀDRAIG FAULKNER,

Minister for Transport and Power.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Rules prescribe revised distress signals for ships and water craft on the water and specify the circumstances in which such signals may be used.