Mayday

See: May Day for the May 1 celebration.

Mayday is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal, derived from the French m'aider (help me).

It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency by many groups, such as police forces, the fire brigade, and transport organisations such as London Underground [1].

Marine Mayday Calls

The US Coast Guard definition of a Mayday situation is 'A vessel or aircraft are in grave and imminent danger and require immediate assistance', while the UK RNLI define it as 'a situation where in the opinion of the Master a vessel, vehicle, aircraft or person is in grave and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance'. Examples of 'grave and imminent danger' in which a Mayday call would be appropriate are fire, explosion or sinking.

'Mayday' calls are made by radio, such as a ship or aircraft's VHF radio. Although a Mayday call will be understood irrespective of the radio frequency on which it is broadcast, first-line response organisations such as the coastguard and air-traffic-control monitor designated channels, such as VHF channel 16. A Mayday call is the equivalent of a morse code SOS, or a telephone call to the emergency services.

The lifeboat at Brixham, south Devon, UK

When they receive a Mayday call, the coastguard may launch lifeboats and helicopters to assist the ship which is in trouble. Other ships which are nearby may divert course to assist the vessel broadcasting the Mayday.

Making a hoax Mayday call is a criminal act in many countries, because of the danger to the rescuers' lives that a search-and-rescue operation can create, as well as the very high costs of such rescue efforts. In the US, making a false distress call is a federal crime carrying sanctions of up to six years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000[2]. Hoax calls too, by their nature, devalue the use of the word Mayday, which rightly demands an instant and resource intensive response.

The coastguard can be contacted in situations that are not emergencies by calling 'Coastguard, Coastguard, Coastguard, this is (name of vessel)', on VHF channel 16. In many countries however, special training and a licence are required to use a VHF radio legally (though in an emergency situation, anyone may use a VHF to summon help).

If a Mayday call cannot be sent because a radio is not available, a variety of other distress signals and calls for help can be used. A Mayday can be sent on behalf on one vessel by another, using a convention called a Mayday Relay (see below).

How to Make a Mayday Call

You must not make a Mayday call unless there is a real emergency, such as fire or sinking - or you may put lives in danger! If you make a Mayday call as a joke, you are committing a serious crime and could be sent to prison for many years.

Go to your VHF radio, switch it on, set power to High if you can
Select Channel 16 (156.8 MHz)
Press the microphone button (this might be labelled 'Push To Talk' or 'PTT')
Holding down the microphone button, say
- MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY
- THIS IS (your boat's name, repeated three times)
- MAYDAY (your boat's name)
- Your location (you could read out the position from your GPS, or say something like 'one mile north of xxx harbour'), repeated 3 times
- What is the emergency (for example, 'we are on fire' or 'we are sinking')
- The number of people on board (for example, '5 people on board')
- OVER
Then release the microphone button and wait for a response (this is very important, you cannot hear what the Coastguard are saying to you unless you release the button).
If you don't get a response after 10 seconds, repeat your mayday call.
As well as your Mayday call, use visual distress signals such as flags, flares, lights, smoke, and waving both arms outstretched.

The official way of making a mayday call is slightly different around the world, but all English-speaking countries will understand you if you do it as described above.

Other Urgency Calls

Mayday is one of a number of words used internationally to as radio code words, to signal important information. As with Mayday, the use of these terms without proper cause could render the user liable to civil and/or criminal charges.

Each of these urgency calls is usually repeated three times (eg "Pan pan, Pan pan, Pan pan").

Mayday Relay

A Mayday Relay call is made by one vessel, on behalf of a different vessel which is in distress. If a vessel makes a Mayday call and this is not acknowledged by the coastguard after a single repetition and a two-minute wait, a vessel receiving the Mayday call should attempt to contact the coastguard on behalf of the Mayday vessel by broadcasting a Mayday Relay on their behalf.

A Mayday Relay call should use the callsign of the transmissing vessel, but give the name and position of the Mayday vessel.

Mayday Relay calls can be used to summon help for a vessel which is too far offshore to contact the coastguard directly.

Pan Pan

Pan Pan (from the French: panne - a breakdown) indicates an urgent situation of a lower order than a "grave and imminent threat requiring immediate assistance", such as a mechanical breakdown or a medical problem. The suffix medico is added to indicate a medical problem (Pan Pan medico, repeated three times).

Securite

Securite (pronounced 'Securitay') indicates a message about safety, such as a hazard to navigation.

Seelonce

The following calls are made only by the coastguard:

Seelonce Mayday (French: silence) means that the channel may only be used by the vessel in distress and the coastguard (and any other vessels they ask for assistance in handling the emergency). It may not be used for normal working traffic until the coastguard broadcast a 'seelonce feenee'.

Seelonce feenee (French: silence finie - silence finished) means that the channel may now by used normally. The word prudonce (prudence caution) can also be used to allow restricted working to resume on that channel.

External Links

See also: call for help, SOS, distress signal