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Student : Pavel Mircea

Grupa : TA 31
Profesor : Pricop Codruta


General I ntroduction

NAVTEX is an international automated direct printing service for
the promulgation of Marine Safety Information (MSI) to ships at
sea. It is an integral part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety
System (GMDSS) and provides a low-cost system in coastal waters,
a system that can provide all the safety information required
whether on a Merchant ship or on a small craft. The simplest form
of receiver incorporates a small printer which prints the output on a
small roll of paper, but many units are now available at low cost
which store the information in soft copy for access as and when
required.

The international system operates world-wide on a frequency of
518 kHz so there is no requirement for retuning of the
receiver. The output on 518 kHz is in the English language
no matter which part of the world the information is being
received. The basic receiver can be programmed to receive
specific transmitting stations and certain classes of
messages, or more to the point, certain classes of messages
cannot be programmed out.
Messages which cannot be programmed out include distress
messages, search and rescue messages, navigational
warnings and meteorological warnings (in this context note
that meteorological forecasts other than warnings can be
programmed out - see below for more on this topic).
The service has been so successful that several countries are
now taking up the option of using the national frequency of
490 kHz for the dissemination of additional information such as
forecasts for inshore waters and the promulgation of MSI
information in the National language. Such information is of
particular interest to small craft although it should be
remembered that the output on the 518 kHz frequency is the
source of essential Marine Safety Information (MSI)
for all classes of vessel.
Vessels obliged to carry NAVTEX equipment within the GMDSS
regulations must have the receiver switched on and tuned to the
518 kHz frequency continuously, and if access to the new
national frequency is required then a second receiver is
required. On a vessel which is not required by the SOLAS
regulations to carry NAVTEX equipment, it is feasible to have a
receiver that can only receive one frequency at any one time.


The user can switch to the national frequency of 490 kHz for
reception of a bulletin and then switch back to the 518 kHz
frequency when the bulletin has been received. This is
possible since the NAVTEX station that one will be using will
have different time slots for input into the 518 kHz and the
490 kHz service .
Vessels that are required to carry NAVTEX equipment by the
SOLAS regulations must carry a dual frequency receiver if
reception on 490 kHz is required since availability to receive
messages on 518 kHz must be maintained at all times.
NAVTEX transmissions are, in general, routine broadcasts
within an allocated slot time of ten minutes every four hours.
However, urgent information, distress information, warnings
of gales etc can be inserted into the system at any time
although the NAVTEX operator will ensure that the non-
routine transmission is not made at the same time as a
neighbouring NAVTEX routine transmission is broadcast
(the result of such an action would be that both
transmissions would corrupt each other). Also it is worth
noting that any warning issued at a non routine time is
repeated in the following scheduled ten-minute slot.
NAVTEX services in English on 518 kHz are now available
in all coastal waters of Europe and in many other parts of
the world so that worldwide vessels have access to marine
safety information in English via the medium of NAVTEX.

NAVTEX stations in the UK and the Republic of I reland

The following notes summarise some aspects of the service
available in waters around the United Kingdom and the
Republic of Ireland and that provided by Norway, Belgium
and France for the North Sea and South-west Approaches to
the British Isles. Details of the location of the three stations
providing a service in the United Kingdom and the two
stations in the Republic of Ireland are listed below.

Station Transmitter site
Niton 5035'N 118'W
Cullercoats 5504'N 128'W
Portpatrick 5451'N 507'W
Malin Head 5522'N 721'W
Valentia 5127'N 949'W


NAVTEX is an acronym for NAVIGATIONAL TEXT
messages. The technology for the dissemination of
these text messages via a simple radio-telex system has
been about for some considerable time, certainly since
the late 1970s when the Post Office Coastal Radio
Station at Cullercoats in the north-east of England
commenced broadcasting weather forecasts and gale
warnings for the North Sea and most of the English
Channel shipping forecast areas from Fair Isle to
Plymouth on what was then referred to as a temporary
radio teletype broadcast.
Apart from a change of name from the Post Office
Coastal Radio Station Cullercoats, to British Telecom
International Coastal Radio Station Cullercoats in the
early 1980s the temporary service continued with
reports coming in of its success. In April 1983 the
service was declared as an operational service
alongside those provided via the conventional means of
the MF Morse broadcasts and those via the marine
radio-telephony service.

On 1st October 1983 the service was extended to the BT
coastal radio station at Portpatrick. The weather
information broadcast from Portpatrick included
forecasts and a gale-warning service for the western
sea areas of the UK, including Fair Isle in the north
and all the western coastal sea areas from Lundy in the
south to South-east Iceland in the north.

During 1985, NAVTEX broadcasts were started via
Land End Radio. This broadcast included warnings
and forecasts for the English Channel, the Irish Sea
and all the sea areas in the South-west Approaches
included in the main shipping forecast. However,
reports suggested that the site at Lands End was not
ideal for the intended area of coverage, and so the
NAVTEX facility at Lands End was moved about a
year later, in 1986, to the BT International coastal
radio station at Niton on the Isle of Wight .
By 1987, interest in NAVTEX was growing and
NAVTEX services were being successively introduced
in other countries.
The author of these notes does not have information as to
how much MSI other than the meteorological bulletins
was included in the transmissions in those early years, but
gradually all the operational MSI information broadcast
by W/T and R/T was incorporated into the bulletins.
Procedures applicable to stations transmitting NAVTEX
information on the frequency of 518 kHz were given in
Article 14A of the Radio Regulations and in Resolution
No.324 (Mob-87) of the World Administrative Radio
Conference for the Mobile Services, 1987.
Following the sixty-third session of the Maritime Safety
Committee (May 1994) a second edition of the NAVTEX
Manual was produced and this continues to be the basis
on which the NAVTEX service operates today.
NAVTEX was a part of the marine communications
organisation for shipping run by the Post Office and
afterwards by BT International. The services included
the broadcast of gale warnings, weather forecasts and
navigational warnings both via the medium of W/T
and R/T as well as via the NAVTEX service.
The network of Post Office stations also dealt with
distress traffic, telegrams to and from ships and
enabled link telephone calls to be made from ships at
sea to land subscribers world-wide.
In the latter years of the operation of the coastal
network of marine radio stations by BT International
the UK NAVTEX service via all three transmitters was
co-ordinated at Stonehaven Radio (not at one of the
transmitting centres).
It was to Stonehaven Radio that all the meteorological texts
were sent from the Meteorological Office and other MSI
information from the sources of that information such as
the Hydrographic Office for broadcast via the UK NAVTEX
service.

NAVTEX becomes an integral part of the GMDSS

NAVTEX was incorporated into the new regulations for the
system known as the Global Maritime Distress and Safety
System (GMDSS). This system underwent a transitional
phase from 1 February 1992 until 1st February 1999 from
which date the GMDSS requirements became mandatory
within Chapter V of the Convention for Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS). From 1st August 1993 all vessels bound by the
requirements of the SOLAS Convention have been required
to carry NAVTEX equipment even though NAVTEX
transmissions were by no means available world-wide.


On the 1st July 1999 BT International began to hand over
the responsibility for dissemination of Marine Safety
Information (including the provision of weather forecasts
and warnings) to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
(MCA). This responsibility included the provision of MSI
information to ships at sea via the medium of the HM
Coastguard VHF and MF stations Early the following
year, on the 1st February 2000 the MCA took over the
responsibility for the transmission of the UK NAVTEX
servicControl of the service was moved from Stonehaven
to the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre) at
Falmouth.
It was shortly after this, on the 30 April 2000 that the
BT HF station at Portishead ceased operations with
the main source of safety information for ships in
NAVAREA ONE on the North Atlantic outside of
NAVTEX coverage being the Inmarsat SafetyNET
service. The two Irish NAVTEX stations, Malin Head
and Valentia, became operational later in 2000, the
service via those stations being maintained by the Irish
Coastguard and extended the availability of the
provision of MSI via NAVTEX from 15W to 20W. The
set of sea areas for which forecasts and gale warnings
were broadcast by the three UK NAVTEX stations was
based on the station locations at Cullercoats, Lands
End and Portpatrick
These groupings of areas persisted until November
2000 when a rationalisation of the sea areas to be
included in each transmission was introduced, For
example, the areas Irish Sea, Rockall and Malin were
relevant in a broadcast from Lands End but not in a
broadcast from Niton. Also courtesy the Irish
Coastguard the two stations in the Republic of Ireland
were able to take on the responsibility of broadcasting
warnings and weather forecasts for users of the
NAVTEX service out to 20W. Thus several of the sea
areas around the north, south and west of Ireland
together with parts of the High Seas forecast for
Metarea I are included in the transmissions from
Malin Head and Valentia.

All broadcasts on 518 kHz are in English (International
requirement). Broadcasts on 490 kHz may be in
English, but more likely in the national language of the
country providing the broadcast. For example, all
NAVTEX stations in France broadcasting on 490 kHz
are in the French language. NAVTEX messages are
transmitted using binary frequency shift-keying(BFSK)
at 100 bit/s and a 170 Hz frequency shift. The
characters are encoded using the 7-bit CCIR 476
character set and basic error detection is enabled by
employing forward error correction (FEC). This is the
same format as the SITOR-B (AMTOR) format.
A NAVTEX message is built on SITOR collective B-
mode and consists of :


a phasing signal of at least ten seconds
the four characters "ZCZC" that identify the
end of phasing
a single space
four characters B
1
, B
2
, B
3
and B
4
(see below)
a carriage return and a line feed
the information
the four characters "NNNN" to identify the end
of information
a carriage return and two line feeds
either
5 or more seconds of phasing signal and
another message starting with "ZCZC" or
an end of emission idle signal for at least 2
seconds.

B
1
is an alpha character identifying the station, and B
2
is
an alpha character used to identify the subject of the
message. Receivers use these characters to reject
messages from certain stations or if the message contains
subjects of no interest to the user.

B
3
and B
4
are two-digit numerics identifying individual
messages, used by receivers to keep already received
messages from being repeated.

For example , a message containing B
1
B
2
B
3
B
4
characters
of 'FE01' from a U.S. NAVTEX Station indicates a weather
forecast message from Boston MA.
NAVTEX message example:

(phasing signals >= 10 seconds)
ZCZC FE01
(message text ...)
NNNN
(end of message phasing signals for >= 2 seconds
before next message)

Start of message
ZCZC begins the message.

Transmitter identity (B
1
)
This character defines the transmitter identity and its
associated coverage area.

Subject indicator character (B
2
)
The subject indicator character is used by the receiver to
identify different classes of messages below. The indicator is
also used to reject messages concerning certain optional
subjects which are not required by the ship (e.g. LORAN C
messages might be rejected in a ship which is not fitted with
a LORAN C receiver).

NAVTEX broadcasts use following subject indicator
characters :
A - Navigational warnings

B - Meteorological warnings

C - Ice reports
D - Search & rescue information, and pirate warnings

E - Meteorological forecasts

F - Pilot service messages
G - AIS messages
H - LORAN messages
I - Not used
J - SATNAV messages (i.e. GPS or GLONASS)
K Other electronic navaid messages
L - Navigational warnings - additional to letter A (Should
not be rejected by the receiver)
T - Test transmissions (UK only - not official)
V - Notice to fishermen (U.S. only - currently not used)
W - Environmental (U.S. only - currently not used)
X - Special services - allocation by IMO NAVTEX Panel
Y - Special services - allocation by IMO NAVTEX Panel
Z - No message on hand

Receivers use the B
2
character to identify messages which,
because of their importance, can not be rejected (designated
by a
1
). The subject indicator characters B, F and G are
normally not used in the United States since the National
Weather Service normally includes meteorological warnings
in forecast messages. Meteorological warnings are broadcast
using the subject indicator character E. U.S. Coast Guard
District Broadcast Notices to Mariners affecting ships outside
the line of demarcation, and inside the line of demarcation in
areas where deep draft vessels operate, use the subject
indicator character A.

Time of origin
The time of the transmission of the message is in UTC.

On a standard NAVTEX receiver compatible for use within the
GMDSS regulations it should not be possible to reject messages
with a B
2
character A (Navigational warnings), B (meteorological
warnings) and D (Search and rescue information), but note that
although category L can be programmed out, in UK waters this
category should programmed so that messages are accepted since
this indicator is used by the UK to provide messages such as
GUNFACTS and SUBFACTS etc, information which may be of
interest to small craft.

Serial number of message (B
3
, B
4
)
These two characters define the serial number of each
B
2
message type (class). Generally serial numbers start with the
numbers '01', however in special circumstances, the numbers
begin with '00'. This forces the receiver to print the message.

End of message
The end of the message is asserted when the characters "NNNN"
are received.

NAVTEX Transmission Schedule

Each station identifier has a fixed 10 minute time slot,
starting with A at 0000UTC. The time slots are repeated
at 4 hour intervals.

Within each time slot, a mix of navigation warnings,
weather forecasts, ice information and other content
may be sent, and this is normally according to a
structured plan for that specific station. For example, in
the first and third time slot they may decide to transmit
navigation warnings, and weather forecasts in the
others. Normally each NAVAREA or sub-NAVAREA has
only one station at each slot.
NAVTEX receivers

NAVTEX receivers which are approved for GMDSS contain
an internal printer and/or a scrollable display, and cost
between $800$1500. A new generation of NAVTEX
receivers intended for non-GMDSS applications such as the
recreational community is now entering the marketplace.
These receivers include features such as LCD screens
and RS-232 output and have a purchase price in the $300
$500 range. In the UK they can be purchased for 115. There
are also a number of NAVTEX engines available that do not
have any user interface, and just output decoded data in RS-
232 format, either as a simple ASCII data stream, or using
the NMEA NAVTEX sentences, or their own proprietary
protocol.

Abbreviations used in NAVTEX broadcasts

It is estimated that significant savings in the content of
NAVTEX broadcasts can be achieved by the use of a standard
set of abbreviations. With this in mind the Second Session of
JCOMM (Joint WMO-IOC Technical Commission for
Oceanography and Marine Meteorology) held in Halifax,
Canada (19 to 27 September 2005) recommended the use of an
internationally agreed list of abbreviations to shorten the texts
broadcast within the International NAVTEX service. The table
(Annex 2 to the Recommendation) is reproduced below and
presented in a decode format.

Abbreviations for wind direction

Terminology NAVTEX abbreviation

North or Northerly N
South or Southerly S
Northeast or Northeasterly NE
Southwest or Southwesterly SW
East or Easterly E
West or Westerly W
Southeast or Southeasterly SE
Northwest or Northwaesterly NW

Decode for abbreviations which may be used in NAVTEX
messages for terms other than wind direction

Abbreviation Terminology Abbreviation Terminology Abbreviation Terminology
BACK Backing KMH Km/h QUAD Quadrant
BECMG Becoming KT Knots RPDY Rapidly
BLDN Building LAT/LONG Latitude/Longitude SCT Scattered
C-FRONT or CFNT Cold front LOC Locally SEV or SVR Severe
DECR Decreasing M Metres SHWRS or SH Showeres
DPN Deepening MET Meteo....... SIG Significant
EXP Expected MOD Moderate SLGT or SLT Slight
FCST Forecsat MOV or MVG Moving/Move SLWY Slowly
FLN Filling NC No change STNR Stationary
FLW Following NM Nautical miles STRG Strong
FM From NOSIG No significant change TEMPO
Temporarily/Temporary
FRQ Frequent/frequency NXT Next TEND Further Outlooks
HPA HectoPascal OCNL Ocasionally VEER Veering
HVY Heavy O-FRONT or OFNT Occluded front VIS Visibility
IMPR Improving/Improve POSS Possible VRB Variable
INCR Increasing PROB Probability/Probable W-FRONT or WFNT Warm Front
INTSF Intensifying/Intensify QCKY Quickly WKN Weakening
ISOL Isolated QSTNR Quasi-stationary
I nformation availabilityBoth the Shipping Forecast and the 16-
area I nshore Waters Forecast are available on the Met Office
web site. From the home page, navigate first to Leisure and
then to Marine to access the links for the forecasts. Or one can
access the Maritime and Coastguard Agency site and click on
the Met Office logo on the home page. The forecasts can then be
accessed from the resulting page which includes some
background to the forecasts.

The gale warning service plus the twice-a-day Shipping
Forecasts via the NAVTEX service on 518 kHz provides a
complete service of meteorological forecast information to the
mariner at sea. Each forecast bulletin includes a list of the areas
for which gale warnings are in force, a general synopsis, and
forecasts for each sea area (areas being grouped when
convenient). Amendments to the forecasts between the routine
issues is via the gale-warning service.


Station E - UK Niton
2013-01-16 21:46:13 (GMT+1)
Signal quality 100
Message number 09 Type A (Nav warning)


ZCZC EA09
WZ 080

ENGLAND, SOUTH COAST. WESTERN APPROACHES
TO THE SOLENT. SW SHINGLES
LIGHT-BUOY 50-39.3N 001-37.5W OFF STATION.
NNNN

ZCZC EA07

ENGLAND, SOUTH COAST. APPROACHES TO TOR BAY, BERRY
HEAD NORTH-EASTWARD.
DANGEROUS WRECK REPORTED 50-28.12N 003-24.88W.
NNNN

ZCZC EA68
WZ 1634

ENGLI SH CHANNEL.

HURD DEEP NORTHWARDS.

1. UNMARKED EQUI PMENT ON SEABED I N VI CI NI TY 49-40.8N
003-43.8W. WI DE BERTH
REQUESTED.

2. CANCEL WZ 1409 (EA21).
NNNN
SOUTHERN NORTH SEA, UK SECTOR. SATURN GAS
FI ELD. 1. PLATFORM 48/10-ND
53-43.50N 001-53.83E, UNLI T. 2. CANCEL WZ 076 (GA92)
NNNN
GALE WARNI NGS: NONE

THE GENERAL SI TUATI ON AT MI DDAY
NEW LOW EXP BI SCAY 1000 BY MI DDAY TOMORROW

24-HR FCSTS

VI KI NG
VRB 3 OR 4, BECMG S 5 AT TI MES. SLT OR MOD. SNOW
SHWRS.
GOOD, OCNL POOR
ZCZC GA38
WZ 1667
NORTH SEA, UK SECTOR. FRANKLI N GAS FI ELD.
PLATFORM UNDER CONSTRUCTI ON
56-57.8N 001-48.1E , ALL NAVAI DS I NOPERATI VE.
NNNN
ZCZC J A05
140911 UTC J AN
POLI SH NAV WARN 009
SOUTHERN BALTI C. POLI SH COAST.
GEOTECHNI CAL SURVEYS ARE I N PROGRESS
WI THI N A RADI US OF 1 M FROM
PSN 55-26.5N 018-41.5E
BY VESSEL 'ST. BARBAA/J 8B2227'
VESSELS ARE REQUESTED TO NAVI GATE WI TH
XTREME CAUTI ON.
NNNN

ZCZC J A02
13800 UTC J AN
POLI SH NAV WARN 008
SOUTHERN BALTI CM POLI SH COAST.
15-19 J AN DAI LY SI NCE 0400-0100 UTC
ZONES 6 ARE CLOSED CENTRED I N
APPROX PSN 54-37N 016-32E.
CANCEL 192330 UTC J AN
NNN
ZCZC KA10
WI GHT - DOVER
SAI LORS ARE ADVI SED THAT UNDERWATER OPERATI ONS
WI LL BE CONDUCTED BY
SCI ENTI FI C SHI P THALASSA FROM 15 TO 23 J ANUARY
2013 I N ENGLI SH
CHANNEL AND NORTH SEA.
WI DE BERTH REQUESTED AND KEEP SHARP LOOK.
CANCEL THI S MESSAGE 240800 UTC J AN 13.

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