The phonetic alphabet is used to spell out parts of a message or call sign that are critical or otherwise hard to recognize during voice communication. The phonetic alphabet assigns code words to the letters of the English alphabet so that code words can be pronounced and understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages regardless of their native language. As a result, it is quite important for maritime communications that the phonetic alphabet be memorized. The phonetic alphabet is a part of ICS (International Code of Signals) and SMCP (Standard Marine Communication Phrases).

THE PHONETIC ALPHABET

Letter


pronunciation

A

Alfa

AL FAH

B

Bravo

BRAH VOH

C

Charlie

CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE

D

Delta

DELL TAH

E

Echo

ECK OH

F

Foxtrot

FOKS TROT

G

Golf

GOLF

H

Hotel

HOH TELL

I

India

IN DEE AH

J

Juliet

JEW LEE ETT

K

Kilo

KEE LOH

L

Lima

LEE MAH

M

Mike

MIKE

N

November

NO VEM BER

O

Oscar

OSS KAR

P

Papa

PAH PAH

Q

Quebec

KEH BEK

R

Romeo

ROW MEE OH

S

Sierra

SEE AIR AH

T

Tango

TANG GO

U

Uniform

YOO NEE FORM or OO NEE FORM

V

Victor

VIK TAH

W

Whisky

WISS KEE

X

X-Ray

ECKS RAY

Y

Yankee

YANG KEE

Z

Zulu

ZOO LOO

NUMBERS

Officially, numbers should be spelled according to the rules described in ICS and in the ITU Manual for use by the Maritime mobile and Maritime Mobile-Satellite Services (see table below). But this pronunciation is quite impractical so, from 2002 onwards, it is also allowed to spell the figures as recommended in SMCP (Standard Marine Communication Phrases).

Number

Pronunciation

(SMCP)

Number

Pronunciation

(ICS)

0

ZEERO

nadazero

NAH DAH ZAY ROH

1

WUN

unaone

OO NAH WUN

2

TOO

bissotwo

BEES SOH TOO

3

TREE

terrathree

TAY RAY TREE

4

FOWER

kartefour

KAR TAY FOWER

5

FIFE

pantafive

PAN TAH FIVE

6

SIX

soxisix

SOK SEE SIX

7

SEVEN

setteseven

SAY TAY SEVEN

8

AIT

oktoeight

OK TOH AIT

9

NINER

novenine

NOH VAY NINER

Decimal Point

DAY SEE MAL


Full Stop

STOP



Press on the play button before a letter to hear its pronounciation in the phonetic alphabet

Replace the word 'Spinaker' with any text and push the button to hear its spelling in the phonetic alphabet

Before spelling out part of a message or call sign, the words "I SPELL" are used. For example, the message "this is S5L12" could be transmitted as "THIS is S5L12, I SPELL Sierra Pantafive Lima Unaone Bissotwo".
Some parts of a message are almost always spelled:
  • Position (Latitude and Longitude), for example "Position 450 36' North 0130 32' East" is transmitted as "Position Kartefour Pantafive degrees Terrathree Soxisix minutes North, Nadazero Unaone Terrathree degrees Terrathree Bissotwo minutes East";
  • Position (Bearing and Distance to a point), for example “ Position 2400 from Koper Castle, 2 miles” is transmitted as “Position Bissotwo Kartefour Nadazero degrees from Koper Castle, Bissotwo miles;
  • Course, for example "My course is 0950" is transmitted as "My course is Nadazero Novenine Pantafive degrees";
  • Speed, for example “My speed is 14 knots” is transmitted as “ My speed is Unaone Kartefour knots";
  • Time, for example "at 0810" ( LT at 8:10 AM) is transmitted as "at Nadazero Oktoeight Unaone Nadazero Local Time".