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Mayday, Pan-Pan, Sécurité: The Three Distress Calls
💡 Channel 16 and the DSC distress button call for help; Mayday means danger to life, Pan-Pan means urgent-but-not-life-threatening, and Sécurité is a safety warning.
Your VHF radio is the boat's lifeline. Channel 16 (156.8 MHz) is the international distress, safety, and calling channel — always monitored by coastguards and nearby vessels. Before you ever speak, though, modern radios can shout for help automatically: DSC (Digital Selective Calling). Pressing the red distress button sends a digital alert broadcasting your vessel's identity (its MMSI number, like a phone number for your boat) and, if a GPS is connected, your exact position — reaching every DSC radio in range in seconds. After the DSC alert, you follow up by voice on Channel 16.
Spoken calls come in three levels of seriousness, each said three times so it can't be missed:
Mayday signals grave and imminent danger to a vessel or a person requiring immediate assistance — sinking, fire, or a life-threatening injury. Pan-Pan means urgency: something's wrong (engine failure, drifting) but no immediate threat to life. Sécurité (say-cure-ee-tay) broadcasts a safety message — a navigation hazard or weather warning. A proper Mayday gives your boat name, MMSI/position, the nature of distress, and the number of people on board — the detail rescuers need most.