VHF with ATIS

[nonitoo]

Following on from a mention in another thread it would seem that a VHF fitted with ATIS is now required in Belgium, Holland etc.

Can anyone point me at the relevant regulations ? Googling does not seem to help.

Thanks

Tom

 

[Bilgediver]

I believe this certainly applies to their inland waters however you may not have a problem as some radios such as Icom 421 are made for the european market and have this function available, you just need the dealer or Icom to program the radio.

Why not speak to Icom or Yeasu.

Icom 421 ATIS

 

[BartW]

Yes, ATIS is obligatoire in most Belgium inland waters.
also in Germany, Holland, etc

ATIS means that the VHF transmits an identification signal every time the talk button is pushed.

There is a European agreement between several european country's
you may find some official regulations on here,
http://www.rainwat.bipt.be/rainboat.html


I have been told that most modern DSC-VHF units have ATIS buyld in the software, and usually this function is not active in the UK version, but can be enabled ,
as has been done with my Icom m411 (purchased in UK)

 

[nonitoo]

Thanks for that I'll check it out

Tom

 

[chrisbailey]

When I asked the RYA about ATIS numbers they replied as follows.

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Last year a number of UK Ship radio licensees including organisations, requested the facilitation of passage of their vessels in European Inland waterways. Until recently this activity has been undertaken without difficulty in most cases. There is however, in association with the Central Commission for the navigation of the Rhine and the Danube Commission, a Regional Arrangement for Radiotelephone on Inland Waterways (RAINWAT), to which a number of countries, but not all, are signatories, the UK and some Scandinavian countries being some amongst those that have not signed nor acceded.

More recently there has been a move to apply the RAINWAT Agreement more robustly, thus causing difficulties in particular, for a number of UK licensed vessels to sail in European Inland Waterways. Some vessels have been subject to enforcement action. In essence, RAINWAT stipulates the requirement for an on-board Automatic Transmitter Identification System (ATIS) radio equipment. ATIS equipment is fundamentally a basic maritime VHF radiotelephone (used generally on lower transmitter power), but at the end of the telephone conversation on the release of the “Push-to-talk” button, the radiotelephone emits the ATIS code - a ten digit code translated into a short burst of tones – enabling the Port to identify the ATIS code and hence the vessel. It is necessary for all RAINWAT country administrations, to export details of the ATIS code, vessel name and call sign to a central database for all licensed vessels intending to enter European Inland Waterways. This database is administered by Belgium (as the RAINWAT secretariat).

Although it may be feasible for UK to accede to the RAINWAT Agreement eventually, this is likely to take a significant amount of time in addition to liaison within UK government machinery and may not be possible initially under the terms of the current RAINWAT Agreement. In order to facilitate UK vessels in European Inland Waterways for visitors, a meeting took place in Feb 07 in London which was attended by various stakeholders including the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the president of the RAINWAT Committee. As a result the following proposals were submitted to RAINWAT Committee in May 07:

For UK vessels, it is proposed that the ATIS code is derived from the MMSI preceded by the digit 9. This would still allow Ports to identify the call sign and vessel name through the requisite export to the database administered by Belgium.
The UK Ship radio licence is amended (by issuing a Notice of Variation), to cater for the carriage of ATIS equipment on board the vessel.
The Ship radio licence Notice of variation will contain a clause to prohibit the use of ATIS equipment in UK waters (12 nm limit), thus ensuring no changes to the current implementation of any SAR functions.
Where necessary, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) in conjunction with the MCA will issue a document providing proof of competence in matters relating to the radiotelephone service and navigation in Inland waterways. It should be noted that the RYA already carry out the Short Range Certification process on behalf of the UK Government (MCA).

However the May 07 meeting exposed a number of issues that were still outstanding among RAINWAT members themselves, notably the certification of competence and although the OFCOM/RYA proposals above were broadly accepted by RAINWAT, little more has happened to date and as far as I am aware I have had no reported problems from members abroad on Inland Waterways. I also keep in touch with the barge association and one or two schools abroad to see if they have had any reported incidents.

So where does that leave you? well hopefully filled in on the background to the problem, but even if you had an ATIS radio and programmed it with an MMSI number preceded by a 9, this has not been formally agreed and there is no exchange of databases with Belgium. As I result I can only assume that the RAINWAT signatories are still content for UK visitors to cruise on the Inland Waterways pending resolution of the issues that we discussed, but I would be grateful if you would let me know if you have problems.

I hope to have been of some help

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So until it is defined fully it would seem that ATIS is not available for UK boats.

 

[BartW]

I realise you'r in a difficult situation,
for cruising in Belgium inland waters you need a ATIS code
but you can't get one as UK isn't member of the RAINWAT agreement.
I have send an e-mail to the belgium telecom institute.
Let you know when (and if) they send an answer.

 

[nonitoo]

I have contacted both the RYA and the manufacturer of my VHF and both have replied that the UK has not yet ratified the ATIS protocol (see above) and so a UK craft cannot comply yet with the requirements.

Therefore, unless you are going to prohibit craft visiting these countries - which has not happened, we are free to visit as before.

Thanks for all your help.

Tom
(now sleeps easy - until the next problem arises)