Note: Please see our page regarding the ceasing of HF Radio Weather Broadcasts.

Although telecommunications technology is improving quickly, people at sea do not have access to the same telecommunications infrastructure people ashore have. Mariners not only need to access international shore telephone and data public switched networks, but also, they need to be able to communicate with other ships of any size or nationality, to receive and send urgent maritime safety information, and to send or receive distress alerts in an emergency to or from rescue coordination centers ashore and nearby ships anywhere in the world.

Unlike cellular telephones and land mobile radios used in the United States, maritime telecommunications systems must be internationally interoperable, even in United States coastal waters, where numerous foreign ships sail. Bringing new telecommunications technology to mariners can be difficult, since to be interoperable, the technology must be affordable, acceptable and available to most ships and maritime countries.

Two United Nations-chartered organizations, the International Maritime Organization and the International Telecommunications Union, are responsible for defining and regulating maritime telecommunications systems. The most current system adopted by these two organizations is the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, or GMDSS.  Morse wireless telegraphy, used by ships for distress and safety communications since the beginning of the century, was discontinued by the USCG in 1995, and ceased worldwide on February 1, 1999.  Many people owe their lives to this system.

The links on the left will lead you to several informative sections regarding Maritime Telecommunications, including the Universal Shipborne Automatic Identification System, Digital Selective Calling, the Global Maritime Distress and Safety Systems, and much more. You may send comments or questions regarding this section of our web site to cgcomms@uscg.mil.