INMARSAT SYSTEM AND ITS COMPONENTS

The INMARSAT satellite system has four major

components:

-- The satellite provided by INMARSAT

-- The Land Earth Station or Coast Earth Station
-- The Mobile Earth Station
-- The Network Coordination Stations
THE INMARSAT SPACE SEGMENT

The four regions of INMARSAT coverage.

THE LAND EARTH STATION

The land earth stations (LES) were

previously described as coast earth stations.
They provide the connection between the
satellite and the national and international
fixed telecommunications network. 21 LES
in operation, several of which are being
equipped to provide INMARSAT-C and
aeronautical services. A typical INMARSAT
LES has a steerable, parabolic antenna
between between 11 and 14 meters in
diameter.
 THE MOBILE EARTH STATIONS

CURRENT MODELS:

INMARSAT-B INMARSAT M INMARSAT-C

 THE NETWORK CO-ORDINATION STATION

a. Assign channel, when available upon request from an

INMARSAT terminal thru the land earth station.

b. When a distress call had been sent from a ship given

by a signal --- Emergency Distress Button when press for
five seconds continuously --- coincidentally, all channels
are being used, the NCS cuts an on-going communication
to make one channel available for the ship in distress.

c. At the time the distress signal reaches the land earth

station and the LES fails to work for some reasons, the
NCS catches such distress signal and route it directly to
an RCC.
 ADVANTAGES OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

1. Satellite communications are fast, reliable and high

quality.

2. Satellite communications are simple and easy to use.

3. Maritime satellites provide near global coverage (to

about 75 degrees latitude which means ship with a
satellite terminal can be virtually anywhere and still be
reached by telex and telephone.
 ADVANTAGES OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS

4.Satellite communications provide privacy of

communication.

5. A ship equipped with terminal can be reached 24 hours

a day.

6. Automatic direct dial telephone calls and medium and

high speed data communication.

7. Fleet Net and Safety Net are two services which take
advantage of the unique enhanced group call (EGC)
facilities inherent in the INMARSAT system.
 THE ROLE OF INMARSAT IN GMDSS

The INMARSAT system provides priority alerting for

use in distress emergency situation. Distress priority
alerting applies not only with respect to satellite channels,
but also to the automatic routing of the call to the
appropriate RCC ( Rescue Co-ordination Center). Each
CES in the system provides reliable communication with
an RCC; these national are known as “ associated RCCs”.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - A (Ship-to-Shore)

By telephone:
1. Lift the handset.
2. Remove the protective cover from the EMERGENCY
button and depress the button.
3. Dial 3 digits according to the following table:
011 Southburry 011 Santa Paula 021 Goonhilly
031 Ibaraki 031 Yamaguchi 041 Eik
051 Fucino 071 Odessa 101 Singapore
061 Umm-Al-Aish 111 Pleumeur Boudou
141 Tangua 121 Nakhodka 051 Thermopylae
151 Jeddah 161 Psary 031 Maadi

Note: For Southburry and Santa Paula, it is necessary to dial coast

guard number after receiving the dial tone from CES.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - A (Ship-to-Shore)

4. After making contact with the rescue center.

5. Begin your message with the words MAYDAY (3X)
Then give the rescue center the following information:
-- The name or other Identification of the ship in distress.
-- Particulars of its position.
-- The nature of the distress and the kind of assistance
required.
-- And other information which might facilitate the rescue.

When you hang up the handset after the distress call, the Saturn 3S will
automatically be reset to priority (routine) for ordinary calls (routine calls).
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - A (Ship-to-Shore)
By teleprinter:
1. Switch teleprinter on-line depressing the on-line button.
2. Remove the priority cover from the EMERGENCY button
and depress the button . P=3 is printed out in teleprinter.
3. Type 3 digits followed by a plus-sign according to the
table below.

011+ Southburry 011+ Santa Paula 021+ Goonhilly

031+ Ibaraki 031+ Yamaguchi 041+ Eik
051+ Fucino 071+ Odessa 101+ Singapore
061+ Umm-Al-Aish 111+ Pleumeur Boudou
141+ Tangua 121+ Nakhodka 051+ Thermopylae
151+ Jeddah 161+ Psary 031+ Maadi
Note: For Southburry and Santa Paula, it is necessary to dial coast guard
number after receiving the answerback and ga+ from CES.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - A (Ship-to-Shore)

4. Upon receipt of answerback from the rescue center.

5. Begin your message by SOS SOS SOS
Then give the rescue center the following information:
-- The name or other Identification of the ship in distress.
-- Particulars of its position.
-- The nature of the distress and the kind of assistance
required.
-- And other information which might facilitate the rescue.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - C (Ship-to-Shore)

You may send a distress alert to an RCC either using

your SES terminal menus, or by pressing the remote
distress button, if fitted to your SES. Sending an alert
using your terminal menus is recommended because it
allows you to provide up to date information on your
circumstances.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - C (Ship-to-Shore)

To send a distress alert using your SES terminal menus:

1. Access the distress alert menus on your SES terminal.

2. Fill in the selections on the menus presented, manually

entering the much information as you can in the time
available, about your vessel’s latitude & longitude, speed
and course (unless those informations are supplied
automatically from instruments).

3. If requested, specify the distress type as maritime.

Specify the nature of distress from the list provided.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - C (Ship-to-Shore)

4. Select preferably the nearest CES to your vessel within

your ocean region. This will assist the search and rescue
efforts by the RCC associated with that CES.

5. Confirm, by pressing the appropriate key, that you want to

send the distress alert. The SES will now automatically transmit
your distress alert via the selected CES to its associated RCC.

6. Wait for an acknowledgement from the CES, and then from

the RCC. If you do not receive an acknowledgement from
both within 4 minutes, repeat the above.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - C (Ship-to-Shore)

If your terminal is fitted with a remote distress button

(or combination of buttons), you may send a distress alert
simply by pressing the button (s), and holding down from
several seconds (typically 5 seconds).
Note, however in the following points:

Note 1: Sending a distress alert by pressing the distress button (s)

sends only preprogrammed information, dating from when
it was previously entered. Since then, your position, course
and speed may have changed,. If so, you should update the
information sent to the rescue authorities, by sending either
an updated distress alert from your terminal, or more
detailed distress priority message.
 PROCEDURE IN SENDING A DISTRESS CALL WITH
THE USE OF INMARSAT - C (Ship-to-Shore)

Note 2: Pressing the remote distress button sends a distress

alert immediately via the INMARSAT system to an
RCC, whether or not your SES is engaged in message
transfer, and whether or not your SES is logged-in
to ocean region.

Note 3: To avoid sending false distress, alerts, do not press

the remote distress alert button (s), except in a real
emergency, when you are in grave and imminent
danger.
 SHORE-TO-SHIP DISTRESS ALERTING

All ships call - Calls to all ships in the Ocean Region

concerned. It should be noted, however, that due to the
large coverage zones of geostationary satellites, such
alerting is not very efficient, although it may be justified
under exceptional circumstances.

Geographical area calls - Calls to ships navigating in a

defined geographical area. Each satellite coverage region
is subdivided into small areas, and the boundaries of
these areas based on NAVAREA/METAREA’s, each having
a unique 2-digit area code. SES’s automatically recognize
and accept geographical area calls only if the correct code
has been input by the SES operator.
 SHORE-TO-SHIP DISTRESS ALERTING

Variable geographical area calls - IMNARSAT-B SES’s

can accept calls to rectangular or circular areas, provided
a navigational position is entered into the terminal, and
the ship is within that area.

Group calls to selected ships - This service is provided

by a number of CES’s in the operator assisted mode, and
allows alerting of a predetermined group of vessels. This
service could be very useful for alerting search and
rescue (SAR) units.
 SHORE-TO-SHIP ALERTING THROUGH THE
INMARSAT SAFETYNET SERVICE

The Enhanced Group Call (EGC) receiver can be integral

part of an SES, or a completely separate unit and it
ensures a very high probability of receiving shore to
ship distress alert messages. When a distress priority
message is received, an audible alarm sounds, and it can
only be reset manually.
************ SafetyNET EGC safety message ************
*
* Date: Nov. 24, 2000 UTC time: 00:45 Station ID: 328
* Sequence no. 12 NAV Warning to Rectangular Area
*
*************************************************

FROM IMBPCI MA31880 24-NOV-2000 00:32:03 MSG152778

SENTOSA C LES

24/00:01 UTC Nov 2000

SitRep Msg: 329/2000

This broadcast warns ships in passage in Africa, the

Indian sub continent and south east Asian waters regarding
Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships.
Warnings

(A) Increasing number of attacks have been reported in the

Malacca straits between the coordinates Lat 01° to 02°N - 101° to
103°E. The most risky area is within 25 nm radius surrounding
02°N - 102°E, where the same armed gang of pirates seems to
have repeatedly attacked ships.

(B) Attacks have been reported at Chittagong, Mongla and

Chennai while at anchor. Ships at ports in Bangladesh have been
subjected to theft of zinc anodes welded to ship's sides and the
stern.

(C) Ships calling at Davao in the Philippines have reported men

firing rocket propelled grenades at ships from 'banca' (small
canoe with outriggers). During the last four weeks four ships
have been subjected to such attacks
Advice to All Ships

Extra caution is advised at all ports in Indonesia, Gelasa Str,

Bangka Str, Berhala Str, Sunda Str, Malacca Str, Singapore Str,
Phillip Chnl, Sprately Island, Chittagong Roads, Mongla anchorage,
Colombo anchorage, Tuticorin Roads, Kandla, southern tip of Red
Sea, Gulf of Aden, the Somali Coast and Nigerian ports.

Ships are advised to maintain anti-piracy watches and report all

piratical attacks or suspicious movements of craft to the IMB
piracy reporting centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The centre can be
contacted 24 hours, everyday.

Anti-piracy help line:

Tel: +60 3 201 0014, Fax: +60 3 238 5769,
Telex: ma 31880 imbpci, E-Mail: ccskl@imbkl.po.my
Warning - Missing Vessel - MV Draco
MV Draco broke arrest and disappeared on the
14.10.2000 while at anchor under a court arrest
at Colombo, Sri Lanka. The vessel was loaded
with 5,500 MT of rice bound for Elman, Somalia
and another 5,500 MT of potash feldspar bound
for Turkey. It was reported that on 22.09.2000,
water entered hold No. 1 following severe
weather in the Indian Ocean and the vessel may
require permanent repairs.
Vessel's Description

Name: Draco
Ex-Name: Sea Champ, Knight after, Seven Daffodil, Georgia Merry, Sun Deneb.
TYPE: Bulk Carrier
FLAG: Cambodian
BUILT: 1975/Japan
IMO No: 7371367
Call Sign: XUSD3
GRT: 6941
DWT: 11994
LOA: 128.8 m
BEAM: 19.6 m
DEPTH: 10.5 m
DRAFT: 8.3 m
Grain: 14108 bale: 13747 holds/hatches: 3/3
Derricks: 1 x 20 tonnes swl, 3 x 15 tonnes swl
Lifeboat: Open lifeboats
Colour: hull - black (rusted), derrick - beige/yellow,
Accommodation - White,
Funnel: Dark blue (light blue at centre with alphabet 's' in white/red lining)
The vessel could have changed her name, flag and particulars.

All ships are requested to keep a lookout for this vessel and if sighted inform the piracy reporting
centre immediately.
 THE PROCEDURE OF SENDING E-MAIL VIA
INMARSAT-C
The procedure of sending E-Mail via "Burum" is as following:
Compose your message in the normal way adding the Internet address on
the very first line.
TO: user@navis.gr (the full Internet address)
SU: [subject] (optional field for subject information)
CC: user2@navis.gr (optional field for full Internet addresses to receive
copies of message)
STX: (compulsory start of text indicator)
Message text...
When you have completed the message, send it to "Burum" e-mail gateway
using Station 12 Special Access Code 400.
Messages from Inmarsat-C terminals to Internet addresses are charged at
0.17 SDR per 256 bits, irrespective of the destination.
Second addresses (CCs) in this direction are charged at a mere 0.02 SDR
per 256 bits.