The Most Rubbish 'Mayday' You've Heard?

[Seatrout]

Is fear of causing a nuisance common, and if so, should it be?

It would not surprise me if it were. But it shouldn't be!

Once in the middle of the Hebridean Sea we were becalmed and lost all compression on the engine. Finally as it became dark, I called Stornoway CG and stressed that I did NOT want assistance, just the comfort of someone knowing I was out there!
They were brilliant and asked for a pos update every couple of hours. Around 2am they told me that a cargo ship was heading in my dir and that they had informed the bridge of my position. It was comforting that I knew the ship was aware of my dimming tricolour as it passed by within a mile.

Finally at 3.30am wind came and we sailed to our destination arriving 21 hours later than originally anticipated.

A letter of thanks was duly posted off to the CG and amazingly the acknowledgement reply that came back indicated that they rarely receive thanks. Through this medium, can we sort that?

 

[Cymrogwyllt]

N

Is fear of causing a nuisance common,

a cause of too many deaths. If someone is in a position where their experience is not up to the situation then they need help. I've acted a guinea pig on kayak training days on the Tryweryn for trainee instructors many times. I've fished more than a few of them out of the river, more often than not sending them on the long walk downriver to find their paddle.

At one time I was told I was paddling at SI level but deliberately did not take the qualls as The employer (school) made it clear that I'd be 'encouraged ' to run a canoe club. Needless to say the school boats were built down to a price. I ripped the cockpit moulding out of one by sitting in it.

 

[fireball]

I did not do so for fear of them calling the RNLI.

Is fear of causing a nuisance common, and if so, should it be?

For our x channel trips I have a shore based contact who is kept up to date with goings on via text or calls. So if the plan changes then they're the first to know - assuming we have mobile signal ....

 

[Uricanejack]

Thanks - I do get the point. Not arguing and well put.

Another ignorant question then - what happens if the yachtsman concerned continues to call it a mayday even after being asked (after investigation/questionning) to downgrade the call to, say, a pan-pan or another status. for eg as above, someone running late for an appointment and there's no wind. They call a false mayday. Just because it's a false mayday ... are people still obliged to assist? Even if everyone concerned knows they are just after a free and quick tow home?

I'm asking because there have been plenty of posts on this forum about people being treated as if they have made a mayday (ie RNLI 'rescuing' them even if they didn't want or need the help) so that's what was in my mind when I asked the question about the difference in the terminology. I think I was questionning whether it matters to the rescue party how the call was heard in the first place, because they do about it depends on the situation as presented.

I'm not suggesting that people don't know that mayday is an emergency call.



OIC!

I’m not affiliated in any way with the RNLI or HMCG so I have no idea what there policy is.
The following is my version of CCG and USCG policy.
I’m not a regular coast guard just a Auxiliary Volunteer. I’m often on the water for other reasons and in a position to respond. Some times I go sailing.
We are quite different from RNLI. We are a federaly funded national organisation with full time profesionals on large ice breaking ships down to RIBS manned by auxillary vollenteres.

We get calls in a lot of ways. Direct from vessel via C16. *16 on Cell phone(if you have coverage) Conceren Citizen Report somebody saw somthing and phone 911.
Flare sighting ect. We respond investigate help if required, stand down if not required. We don't send a swat team to force you to be unwillingly rescued.
We may talk to a relucatant skipper and advise to come with us.

Calling Mayday for a reason I don’t happen to approve of is not an offence.
We are obligated to respond and save your life and your crews and protect the environment if we can do so safely.
Not your property and not your boat.
Until stood down by YOU. The On Scene Commander or RCC can stand down or task an individual unit or vessel.

We are not the AA we don’t tow except to save life.(Cox has discretion to tow)

We will ask for your
Position,
No of Persons On Board
The Vessels name.
Nature Of Distress.
The Assistance Required.
We ask if you are in immediate danger. This is where determination on level of response is made and they are prioritised.

The greater the threat to life the higher the priority.

You will also be asked about your responses and given advice. I.e. life jackets on anchor ready dingy life raft.

No threat to life no immediate danger. You just want a tow home so you are not late for work dinner. You are a low priority.

You don’t agree keep calling Mayday
We offer to evacuate you and your crew and make it quite clear we are not a tow service.
If you do not want to be evacuated we ask if you would like to accept commercial assistance.
At this point we will make a security call on your behalf stating the nature of your problem and assistance requested in doing so will state if you are willing or not willing to accept commercial assistance..

I the unlikely event of a vessel not in any immediate danger calling Mayday repeatedly Calling Mayday is not the offence. Misuse of Channel 16 could be after you have declined to be evacuated and refused our help. You will be advised channel 16 is for distress and hailing only repeated use could be a serious offence if a genuine Mayday went unheard

Having said this there are many occasions where we do tow or stand by while an attempt is made to save a vessel. We will deliver pumps medical supplies even fire fighting equipment.

We never refuse to attend. We give you the option of abandoning or not. Faced with abandoning most skippers who are not in immediate danger will stand us down and wait for a tow.

In practice this is rarely a direct conversation between a Cox and a boat calling Mayday it is usually handled by a professional Canadian or US Coast Guard Officer at the Coast Radio Station VTS Center or Rescue Coordination Center.

On occasions we may show up to flare sighting and go through this process. Just the fact we are on scene does not mean we will now tow.
We can return to station much faster and be ready for another call or head for a higher priority call from location.

I don’t recall any occasion actual charges have been laid unless for a completely fabricated false call.

 

[DanTribe]

One of the most annoying involved pedantic coastguard and a very calm (under the circumstances) Dutch lady.
"Mayday we are aground and disabled at............ (on the Long Sand approx)

What is the name of your vessel and your difficulty?

We are DUTCHT JACHT, we are aground and the rudder is broken.

Please describe your vessel and how many persons on board.

The questions continued for several minutes asking for minute details.
I felt like grabbing the microphone and shouting "send a lifeboat and helicopter and do the paperwork later"

 

[fireball]

The questions continued for several minutes asking for minute details.
I felt like grabbing the microphone and shouting "send a lifeboat and helicopter and do the paperwork later"

They may well have already requested the launch of suitable vessels - just because you didn't hear it doesn't mean it hasn't been done.

 

[Talulah]

They may well have already requested the launch of suitable vessels - just because you didn't hear it doesn't mean it hasn't been done.

Perhaps they should have said so. May have reassured the casualty.

 

[gjgm]

Aha someone who actually knows !
I think the point about the Mayday being stood down buy the initiator is a good one, and I think I have certainly heard the CG asking the caller if they would (please) cancel the Mayday....

 

[fireball]

Perhaps they should have said so. May have reassured the casualty.

It may have done - equally, sometimes telling someone that help is on it's way makes them relax and give up ...
I know I've sat there hearing the CG ask all sorts of "meaningless" questions and not actually say that help is on it's way - I assume they have their reasons ...

 

[Beadle]

I don't believe that's correct - all such communications are subject to non disclosure. During my DSC SRC course we were played a Mayday call which followed procedure precisely but ONLY by virtue that it was in actuality a hoax call from someone halfway up the M4 was it granted special dispensation to be used as training material to illustrate how the CG would respond to a mayday call.


Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1949
Section 5. Misleading messages and interception and disclosure of messages.
Para B

Any person who--

( b ) otherwise than under the authority of the Postmaster General or in the course of his duty as a servant of the Crown, either--
(i) uses any wireless telegraphy apparatus with intent to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any message (whether sent by means of wireless telegraphy or not) which neither the person using the apparatus nor any person on whose behalf he is acting is authorised by the Postmaster General to receive; or
(ii) except in the course of legal proceedings or for the purpose of any report thereof, discloses any information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any such message, being information which would not have come to his knowledge but for the use of wireless telegraphy apparatus by him or by another person

shall be guilty of an offence under this Act.

A couple of minor points:-

Firstly this act dates back to the days of "link calls" when VHF radio was used to carry telephone traffic. Its validity if applied to intership or ship to shore radio traffic is at best questionable.

Since the authority for the section is the Postmaster General who, I believe, no longer exists its difficult to see how his authority exists.

Even if the PMG did exist I very much doubt if he would care if you or I told someone that Fred on his boat told Jack on his boat to meet in the Duck and Sprocket for a pint.

BTB the same paragraph used to (and maybe still does) in the Amateur Radio license and is treated with the same profound neglect by amateurs, for exactly the same reason . Before the days of Telstar and its descendants and lots of underwater cables, long distance telephone traffic was carried by HF radio and this clause tried (with little success) to maintain a level of secrecy. Or more accurately the pretence that there was a level of secrecy.

Completely by the by

The use of HF radio, or rather the distrust of it's security, almost caused WW3 - during the Cuban missile crisis

The only communication that was in any way secure between the US and USSR was Western Union telegraph

At the critical point where both countries warships were nose to nose in the western Atlantic, the B52s were (Allegedly) airbourne waiting for
the "go" command
and the V force fully loaded and crewed up - the telegram from US to Moscow confirming the withdrawal of missiles from Turkey in exchange for a withdrawal from Cuba was sent. It arrived, as did all the comms between the two, at the Western Union office in Moscow and was collected by hand from there by a Soviet official.

Unfortunately the lift taking him up to the WU office failed just below 11th floor where the office was located.

Fortunately the WU people with some help managed to force open the lift doors pass the paper to the official and he was able to get word back to the Kremlin

And that's why we are all here to tell the tale, and also why we have the "hotline".

 

[Seatrout]

A couple of minor points:-

Blah blah blah....

And that's why we are all here to tell the tale, and also why we have the "hotline".

What an incredibly interesting post. (makes me think you or one near to you had intimate knowledge of the events?)

I was a wee boy at the time, but do remember nervous discussion in the house which I can now put into historical perspective.

Thanks for the info.

 

[winsbury]

A couple of minor points:-

Firstly this act dates back to the days of "link calls" when VHF radio was used to carry telephone traffic. Its validity if applied to intership or ship to shore radio traffic is at best questionable.

Since the authority for the section is the Postmaster General who, I believe, no longer exists its difficult to see how his authority exists.

Even if the PMG did exist I very much doubt if he would care if you or I told someone that Fred on his boat told Jack on his boat to meet in the Duck and Sprocket for a pint.

There's probably another law somewhere that says the PMG responsibilities are now assumed by the Secretary of State or someone similar so I don't think it matters - the disclosure you would have signed when you were issued with your VHF license will only refer to the primary legislation.

I suspect you are absolutely right about not prosecuting every case, the point I was trying to support was that by ridiculing the content of mayday calls that someone may be put off placing a mayday for fear of becoming a laughing stock and loss of life could result. While its going to be impossible to link such a publication to the change of attitude of someone after the fact; the license dictates that you shouldn't do it and by signing the document you have agreed to abide by this, legally if not morally.

I was sailing off Fowey last summer and someone was transmitting engine noise on ch16 for 1-2 hours, a S&R helicopter was eventually seen hovering over a boat which I presume was the culprit because it stopped soon after. For that whole period there was no reliable means to contact CG for anyone with a non DSC VHF set. I imagine the TX button had been pressed on a stored handheld rather than being a deliberate act but nevertheless there was a serious consequence which could have been much worse.

The point is that any breach of protocol can have serious consequences and could cost lives.

 

[Seatrout]

There's probably another law somewhere that says the PMG responsibilities are now assumed by the Secretary of State or someone similar so I don't think it matters - the disclosure you would have signed when you were issued with your VHF license will only refer to the primary legislation.

The RIPA Act 2000 covers the areas of interception and disclosure of a wide range of communications. (RIP(S)A where I am).

 

[Beadle]

Winsbury

Don't disagree with that at all -

My point is really that the secrecy clause was there for a purpose that no longer exists and today has little or no relevance

Certainly the deliberate interference comes under a different section and IS enforced - quite rigorously - and rightly so

 

[fireball]

the point I was trying to support was that by ridiculing the content of mayday calls that someone may be put off placing a mayday for fear of becoming a laughing stock and loss of life could result.

3 points
1)there was no personal identifier in the OP
2)it has already been pointed out how some forms of seasickness can incapacitate an individual - somewhat troublesome if all onboard are that way.
3)A mayday is a serious call and should not be used lightly.
I am mindful of my first solo sail capsize in a topper dinghy (pre teen). In sight of the sailing club I panicked, clambered onto the hull and started waving and shouting for help. A few started getting a tender to launch and come to rescue me whilst my Dad just stood there and said that I'd work it out in a minute. Sure enough, by the time the rescuers had got to me I'd cleared my head and resolved my problems and was able to carry on sailing.
The point is - my first reaction (as a iirc 10yo) was to shout for help - for a split second (or 20) everything I'd learnt in sailing went out of the window. I'd capsized before, I could swim, I wasn't far from shore, the boat was in one piece, I wasn't stuck - once I'd worked that out I set to resolving the situation. That's the key - getting beyond "panic mode" and understanding what the issue is and potential ways to resolve it, which is why I believe Maydays should be regarded as a final resort. OK - it may be the first thing you do with a missing diver, MOB or fire - but that is somewhat different to a sailing vessel with a broken engine but otherwise in shipshape condition.

To suggest that it's Ok to shout mayday with even the slightest mishap is going down the route of the 999 call for a football ref that didn't notice a player was offside (or whatever claptrap it was) and will result in too much noise ... at which point ...

The point is that any breach of protocol can have serious consequences and could cost lives.

exactly - A Mayday is for life-threatening situations only.