Long Range Certificate Course

The main objective of this course is to improve your safety at sea, whether you are sailing as a professional or as an amateur on leisure craft such as speedboats, yachts or sailing boats. This course could save your life when in distress or in an emergency situation at sea.

Imagine you are sailing on a boat and find youself in distress or in an emergency situation such as your boat capsizing or sinking: what are you going to do? I bet some of you would just get out your mobile phones and ring for help. But a mobile phone is not the right solution for raising the alarm at sea. First, is it not always easy to find a signal when at sea, or you may not have sufficient battery life when you are in danger or in an emergency situation, and besides, rescuers cannot pinpoint your position based on the use of a mobile phone. These are the risks and dangers of relying just on a mobile phone.

It's possibly only when you are in an emergency situation that you'll really wish you had attended a course to obtain some basic knowledge of the different types of equipment on board ship that enable you to communicate with others when requiring help at sea. At least by attending such a course, you will acquire a basic understanding of such equipment.

GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) will provide alerts when a distress or emergency situation arises at sea. A search and rescue operation will involve centres ashore and vessels in the vicinity, and inform them that assistance is required. There are many types of equipment used for communications purposes and these will be explained in this course.

The equipment, its carriage requirements and its usage are integral elements of GMDSS, which itself is an important part of the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) and SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) convention. The SOLAS convention is a key element of maritime communications. The main objective of GMDSS is to maximise safety at sea so as to lessen the likelihood of loss of human lives and material damage.

Regulations on maritime communications were introduced shortly after the well-known RMS Titanic disaster. The RMS Titanic sank on her maiden voyage after a collision with an iceberg. Only 706 people were saved, thanks mainly to the efforts of the Titanic's two Radio Officers, who managed to summon help from nearby vessels. However, some 1500 people were killed because the vessel closest to the disaster (the Leyland liner Californian) could not be alerted, as her Radio Officer had just gone off watch after 12 hours on duty.

The equipment carriage requirements for all SOLAS vessels at sea depends on the GMDSS Sea Area in which they operate. Most probably, you are sailing outside GMDSS Sea Area A1, out of range of VHF (Very High Frequency) DSC (Digital Selective Calling) from a CRS (Coast Radio Station), so will be more than 30 NM from the coast and will most probably have fitted on board a marine MF/HF radio and perhaps even SART, EPIRB, NAVTEX receiver and Inmarsat C equipment. On non-SOLAS vessels it is not a legal requirement to have such equipment, but when your life is at stake it would be better to have it than not.

Just as every driver needs a licence to drive a car, operators of marine radios also require a licence. Radio operators on leisure or commercial vessels not under the regulation of the SOLAS convention that are fitted with long range communications (MF/HF radio) or satellite equipment need to carry a GMDSS LRC (Long Range Certificate).

This course enables you to prepare for the examination for the LRC (Long Range Certificate), for which you have to apply to the appropriate examination authority in your country.

This LRC course has been developed inline with CEPT/ECC RECOMMENDATION (10)03 - HARMONISED CEPT EXAMINATION PROCEDURES FOR THE LONG RANGE CERTIFICATE (LRC) FOR NON-SOLAS VESSELS (European Communications Office, Electronic Communications Committee, October 7, 2010).

M.sc. Tomaž Gregorič

director

Spinaker d.o.o.