Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)RegulationsMerchant Shipping (Radio Installations) Regulations, 2002Part 2 : GMDSS Requirements11. Additional radio equipment to be provided for area A1 ships |
| (1) | In addition to meeting the requirements of regulation 10 , every area A1 ship must be provided with a radio installation capable of initiating the transmission of ship-to-shore distress alerts from the position from which the ship is normally navigated, operating either— |
| (a) | on VHF using DSC, which requirement may be met by the EPIRB specified in subregulation (3), if it is installed closet o, or capable of remote activation from the, position from which the ship is normally navigated; or |
| (b) | through the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite service in the 406 MHz band, which requirement maybe met by the satellite EPIRB required by regulation 10(1)(f), if it is installed close to, or capable of remote activation from, the position from which the ship is normally navigated; |
| (c) | if the ship is at sea within coverage of MF coast stations equipped with DSC, on MF using DSC; or |
| (d) | on HF using DSC; or |
| (e) | through the INMARSAT geostationary satellite service, which requirement may be met by— |
| (i) | an INMARSAT ship earth station; or |
| (ii) | the satellite EPIRB required by regulation 10(1)(f), if it is installed close to, or capable of remote activation from, the position from which the ship is normally navigated. |
| (2) | The VHF radio installation required by regulation 10(1)(a) must also be capable of transmitting and receiving general radio communications using radiotelephony. |
| (3) | An area A1 ship may, instead of being provided with the satellite EPIRB required by regulation 10(1)(f), be provided with a VHF EPIRB that is— |
| (a) | capable of transmitting a distress alert using DSC on VHF channel 70 and providing for locating by means of a radar transponder operating in the 9 GHz band; |
| (b) | installed in an easily accessible position; |
| (c) | ready to be manually released and capable of being carried by one person into a survival craft; |
| (d) | capable of floating free if the ship sinks; |
| (e) | capable of being activated manually; and |
| (f) | automatically activated when afloat |