This section contains the additional equipment requirements for ships that remain within sea areas A1, A2, or A3 at all times. Ships fitting in accordance with this section satisfy the requirements denoted in §80.1087 or §80.1089 for sea-areas A1 and A2. Ships fitting in accordance to this section have the option to comply with either the requirements of paragraph (a) or (b) of this section.

(a) In addition to meeting the requirements of §80.1085, ships subject to this section must be provided with:

(1) An INMARSAT ship earth station capable of:

(i) Transmitting and receiving distress and safety data communications;

(ii) Initiating and receiving distress priority calls;

(iii) Maintaining watch for shore-to-ship distress alert, including those directed to specifically defined geographical areas;

(iv) Transmitting and receiving general radiocommunications, using either radiotelephony or direct-printing telegraphy; and

(2) An MF radio installation capable of transmitting and receiving, for distress and safety purposes, on the frequencies:

(i) 2187.5 kHz using DSC; and

(ii) 2182 kHz using radiotelephony; and

(3) A radio installation capable of maintaining a continuous DSC watch on the frequency 2187.5 kHz which may be separate from or combined with that required by paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section; and

(4) Means of initiating the transmission of ship-to-shore distress alerts by a radio service operating either:

(i) Through the polar orbiting satellite service on 406.0-406.1 MHz (this requirement may be fulfilled by the EPIRB required by §80.1085(a)(6), either by installing the EPIRB close to, or by allowing remote activation from, the position from which the ship is normally navigated); or

(ii) On HF using DSC: or

(iii) Through the INMARSAT geostationary satellite service, by an additional ship earth station.

(b) In addition to meeting the requirements of §80.1085, ships subject to this section must be provided with:

(1) An MF/HF radio installation capable of transmitting and receiving on all distress and safety frequencies in the bands between 1605-27500 kHz using DSC, radiotelephony, and narrow-band direct-printing telegraphy; and

(2) Equipment capable of maintaining DSC watch on 2187.5 kHz, 8414.5 kHz and on at least one of the distress and safety DSC frequencies 4207.5 kHz, 6312 kHz, 12577 kHz, or 16804.5 kHz although it must be possible to select any of these DSC distress and safety frequencies at any time (this equipment may be separate from, or combined with, the equipment required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section); and

(3) Means of initiating the transmission of ship-to-shore distress alerts by a radiocommunication service other than HF operating either:

(i) Through the polar orbiting satellite service on 406.0-406.1 MHz (this requirement may be fulfilled by the 406.0-406.1 MHz EPIRB required by §80.1085(a)(6), either by installing the 406.0-406.1 MHz EPIRB close to, or by allowing remote activation from, the position from which the ship is normally navigated); or

(ii) Through the INMARSAT geostationary satellite service (this requirement may be fulfilled by an INMARSAT ship earth station).

(4) In addition, ships must be capable of transmitting and receiving general radiocommunications using radiotelephony or direct-printing telegraphy by an MF/HF radio installation operating on working frequencies in the bands between 1605-4000 kHz and between 4000-27500 kHz (this requirement may be fulfilled by the addition of this capability to the equipment required by paragraph (b)(1) of this section).

(c) It must be possible to initiate transmission of distress alerts by the radio installations specified in paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(4), (b)(1), and (b)(3) of this section from the position from which the ship is normally navigated.

[57 FR 9065, Mar. 16, 1992, as amended at 68 FR 46977, Aug. 7, 2003; 69 FR 64680, Nov. 8, 2004; 73 FR 4490, Jan. 25, 2008; 76 FR 67617, Nov. 2, 2011]