Vessel emergency codes
Encyclopedia
In addition to distress signal
s like Mayday
and pan-pan
, most vessels, especially passenger ship
s, use some emergency signals to internally alert the crew on board, and in some cases also the passengers. These can be in form of blasts on alarm bells, sounding the ship's whistle or code name
s paged over the PA
system.
Distress signal
A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination, or making an audible sound, from a distance....
s like Mayday
Mayday (distress signal)
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning "come help me"....
and pan-pan
Pan-pan
In radiotelephone communications, a call of three repetitions of pan-pan is used to signify that there is an urgency on board a boat, ship, aircraft or other vehicle but that, for the time being at least, there is no immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself. This is referred to as...
, most vessels, especially passenger ship
Passenger ship
A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...
s, use some emergency signals to internally alert the crew on board, and in some cases also the passengers. These can be in form of blasts on alarm bells, sounding the ship's whistle or code name
Code name
A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage...
s paged over the PA
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
system.
- Mr. Skylight paged over the PA system is an alert for the crew on board and means there is a minor emergency somewhere.
- Mr. Mob means man overboard. Man overboard can also be signaled with three prolonged blasts on the ship's whistle and general alarm bell (Morse codeMorse codeMorse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
"Oscar").
- Code Blue usually means a medical emergency.
- Assemble at Muster Stations or Abandon Ship, seven or more short blasts on the ship's whistle and general alarm, followed by one long blast.
- Fire and emergency, continuous ringing of the general alarm bell for ten seconds and a continuous sounding of the ship's whistle for ten seconds.
- Bravo, Bravo, Bravo, used by many cruise lines to alert crew to a fire or other serious incident on board without alarming passengers.