🔍 Key Concepts
• GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) procedures for SafetyNET™ messages
• Difference between Distress, Urgency, and Routine/Safety messages in GMDSS
• How EGC receivers (Enhanced Group Call) alert the operator and what must be done with alarms/messages
💭 Think About
• Ask yourself: When a Distress or Urgency message arrives, what is the operator’s first responsibility: silence the alarm, read the message, acknowledge it, or let it run?
• Consider how automatic features of GMDSS (like auto-printing or auto-acknowledgement) affect, but do not replace, the operator’s duty when a critical message is received.
• Think about what would be dangerous if everyone relied only on automatic functions—what action must a human take to ensure the bridge team is actually aware of the message?
✅ Before You Answer
• Verify what happens to alarms on the EGC when a Distress or Urgency SafetyNET™ message is received: do they continue until cancelled, or stop on their own?
• Check whether GMDSS rules allow automatic acknowledgement of a broadcast Distress/Urgency SafetyNET™ message, or if those broadcasts are not individually acknowledged.
• Confirm whether the operator must physically interact with the unit (e.g., cancel alarm, read or print message), or if truly no action is required.